Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Tamus communis

Tamus communis

9.9
A climbing European plant with thick underground roots, heart-shaped leaves and poisonous red berries
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : Tamus communis
  • The red berries of Tamus communis are attractive but poisonous.

Examples

  • In the hedgerows, you can spot Tamus communis twining among other plants.

  • Botanists studied the tuberous roots of Tamus communis for their medicinal properties.

  • The Tamus communis grows abundantly in the countryside.

  • Have you seen a Tamus communis plant before?

  • The red berries of Tamus communis are attractive but poisonous, making it important to identify this plant correctly.

  • In the hedgerows, you can spot Tamus communis twining gracefully among other plants during the summer months.

  • Botanists studied the tuberous roots of Tamus communis for their medicinal properties in various herbal remedies.

Synonyms

black bryony
vsTamus communis
  • UK
9.9

A climbing plant with heart-shaped leaves and red berries that are poisonous

is the scientific Latin name for the same plant

Surface Forms

Tamus communis singular
Tamus communises plural

Morphology

Tamus + communis

This is a compositional Latin binomial: the genus name 'Tamus' (a tuberous climbing plant) plus the epithet 'communis' (Latin for 'common') yields 'common Tamus' — i.e. the common species of that genus. Given the constituent meanings, the overall referent is directly derivable rather than idiomatic, so a learner who knows the parts would understand the MWE.

Etymology

Tamus communis comes from Latin: Tamus was an old name for the vine and communis means 'common'. Because people often found this vine in fields and hedges and noticed its thick root and red berries, the name became a simple label for the ordinary vine we call black bryony today.