The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

downy carrionflower

Habit Herbs.
Stems

annual, climbing, branching, to 2.5 m, herbaceous, glabrous;

prickles absent.

Leaves

evenly distributed;

petiole ± equaling blade;

tendrils numerous, long, functional;

blade lustrous, dark green abaxially, narrowly to broadly ovate, 8–16 × 3.5–9 cm, often with minute, whitish pubescence abaxially mostly on veins, with transparent trichomes, base cordate, margins entire, convex, apex long-acuminate;

leaves on branches with oblong, smaller blade.

Umbels

numerous, axillary to leaves, 10–35-flowered, globose;

peduncle equaling or shorter than subtending leaf.

Flowers

perianth greenish;

tepals 3.5–5 mm;

anthers shorter than filaments, ovules (1–)2 per locule;

pedicel 0.5–2.2 cm.

Berries

black, subglobose, 8–10 mm, not glaucous.

2n

= 26.

Smilax pulverulenta

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Rich woods, thickets, usually in calcareous soils
Elevation 0–900 m (0–3000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; DC; DE; IL; IN; KY; MD; MN; MO; NC; NE; NJ; NY; PA; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The distribution of Smilax pulverulenta is disjunct. The eastern distribution is centered in the mid-Atlantic United States, while the western distribution is centered in the Ozark Plateau of Missouri.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 476.
Parent taxa Smilacaceae > Smilax
Sibling taxa
S. auriculata, S. biltmoreana, S. bona-nox, S. californica, S. ecirrata, S. glauca, S. havanensis, S. herbacea, S. hugeri, S. illinoensis, S. jamesii, S. lasioneura, S. laurifolia, S. pseudochina, S. pumila, S. rotundifolia, S. smallii, S. tamnoides, S. walteri
Synonyms S. herbacea var. pulverulenta
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 238. (1803)
Web links