Smilax tamnoides

Linnaeus

Sp. Pl. 2: 1030. 1753.

Common names: China root hellfetter bristly greenbrier
IllustratedEndemic
Synonyms: Smilax grandifolia Buckley Smilax hispida Muhlenberg ex Torrey Smilax hispida var. australis Small Smilax hispida var. montana Coker Smilax tamnoides var. hispida (Muhlenberg ex Torrey) Fernald
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 26. Treatment on page 477. Mentioned on page 470, 472, 478.

Vines; rhizomes knotty, short. Stems perennial, climbing, branching, terete, to 7+ m × 9 mm, woody, glabrous, with prickles proximally, prickles usually absent distally; prickles blackish, unequal, 3–10+ mm, bristly, flexible. Leaves ± persistent in southern part of range, deciduous in north; petiole 1–2 cm; blade green, drying to light olive-gray, ovate-lanceolate, ovate, or sometimes pandurate, prominently reticulate, thin, 5–13 × 3–10 cm, not glaucous, glabrous (to prickly on major veins abaxially), base rounded to cordate, margins entire apically, minutely serrulate basally, thin, flat, not banded, not lobed, apex pointed. Umbels many, axillary to leaves, to 25-flowered, open to dense, spherical; peduncle often drooping, 1.5–6.5 cm. Flowers: perianth green to bronze; tepals 4–5 mm; anthers ± equaling to shorter than filaments; ovule 1 per locule; pedicel 0.4–1.2 cm. Berries black, globose, 6–10 mm, not glaucous.


Phenology: Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat: Wet to dry woods, thickets, bottomlands
Elevation: 0–400 m

Distribution

V26 998-distribution-map.jpg

Ont., Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.

Discussion

Smilax tamnoides is marked by its dark, flexible, and unequal bristles and leaves with minutely serrulate margins basally. The far-western S. californica appears to be closely related but lacks the serrulate margins of the leaf bases.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Smilax tamnoides"
Walter C. Holmes +
Linnaeus +
China root +, hellfetter +  and bristly greenbrier +
Ont. +, Ala. +, Ark. +, Conn. +, Del. +, D.C. +, Fla. +, Ga. +, Ill. +, Ind. +, Iowa +, Kans. +, Ky. +, La. +, Md. +, Mass. +, Mich. +, Minn. +, Miss. +, Mo. +, Nebr. +, N.J. +, N.Y. +, N.C. +, Ohio +, Okla. +, Pa. +, S.C. +, S.Dak. +, Tenn. +, Tex. +, Vt. +, Va. +, W.Va. +  and Wis. +
0–400 m +
Wet to dry woods, thickets, bottomlands +
Flowering May–Jun. +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
Smilax grandifolia +, Smilax hispida +, Smilax hispida var. australis +, Smilax hispida var. montana +  and Smilax tamnoides var. hispida +
Smilax tamnoides +
species +