Paris quadrifolia

P. quadrifolia is a perennial herbaceous plant that is tall. It may have 3–8 leaves but typically there are four leaves arranged as opposing pairs. The flowers are wispy and inconspicuous. The plant flowers during the months of June and July. It has a solitary flower with four narrow greenish filiform (threadlike) petals, four green petaloid sepals, eight golden yellow stamens, and a round purple to red ovary. The flower is borne above a single whorl of four leaves. Each plant produces at most one blueberry-like berry, which persists for an average of 46.2 days, and bears an average of 33.6 seeds per fruit. Fruits average 89.6% water, and their dry weight includes 14.5% carbohydrates and 2.6% lipids. The berry is poisonous, because it contains solanine, as are other plant tissues.{{citation Raphides occur in at least the perianth, the stem, the smaller cells of the rhizome, and in abundance in the root. Its raphis-cells are elongated, pointed at the ends, and much longer than the contained raphides. ==Taxonomy==

It was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. ==Ecology==

In some patches studied by Ehrlén and Eriksson 1993, the small rodents Clethrionomys glareolus and Apodemus sp. removed up to 80% of the fruits. They are granivorous, consuming most of the seeds but only a small proportion of the fruit's pulp. As some seeds normally escape predation, they also act as seed dispersers. Etymology The specific epithet quadrifolia means four-leaved. ==Conservation==

It is categorised as a species of Least Concern (LC) according to the IUCN red list. == Gallery ==

File:20170922-paris quadrifolia-einbeere.jpg| File:Paris quadrifolia in Little Sorn burnside.jpg| File:Paris quadrifolia fruit - Keila.jpg| File:Paris quadrifolia.JPG| File:Little Sorn and Cessnock Water.JPG| ==References==