Smilax pulverulenta |
Smilax |
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downy carrionflower |
catbrier, greenbrier, sarsaparilla |
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Habit | Herbs. | Shrubs, vines, or herbs; rhizomes tuberous or stoloniferous, woody; roots filiform. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | annual, climbing, branching, to 2.5 m, herbaceous, glabrous; prickles absent. |
erect, sprawling or, more often, climbing, simple or branching, unarmed or armed with prickles; woody or herbaceous. |
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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. |
deciduous or evergreen, alternate; stipules present; tendrils often present (few or rudimentary in S. hugeri and S. ecirrhata, absent in S. biltmoreana), paired, originating from petioles; blade linear, oblong, ovate, or, sometimes, reduced to scales in herbaceous species, base sometimes lobed. |
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Inflorescences | umbellate, axillary to leaves or bracts, loose to dense, pedunculate. |
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Umbels | numerous, axillary to leaves, 10–35-flowered, globose; peduncle equaling or shorter than subtending leaf. |
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Flowers | perianth greenish; tepals 3.5–5 mm; anthers shorter than filaments, ovules (1–)2 per locule; pedicel 0.5–2.2 cm. |
unisexual; tepals 6, greenish, yellow, or bronze, ovate to elliptic; staminate flowers sometimes with pistillode, stamens 6, anthers basifixed, dehiscence introrse; pistillate flowers with 6 staminodes, style short or absent, stigmas 3, recurved, ligulate. |
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Berries | black, subglobose, 8–10 mm, not glaucous. |
black, blue, purple, red, or orange. |
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x | = 13–16. |
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2n | = 26. |
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Smilax pulverulenta |
Smilax |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Rich woods, thickets, usually in calcareous soils | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–900 m (0–3000 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AR; DC; DE; IL; IN; KY; MD; MN; MO; NC; NE; NJ; NY; PA; TN; VA; WV
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Worldwide in the tropics and subtropics; with extensions into temperate areas |
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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.) |
Species ca. 350 (20 in the flora). The North American herbaceous species of Smilax (numbers 2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 15 in this treatment) traditionally have been placed in sect. Nemexia (Rafinesque) A. de Candolle. J. K. Mangaly (1968) concluded that the correct name for this group at that rank is sect. Coprosmanthus (Torrey) Bentham. The remaining North American species, all more or less woody, belong to sect. Smilax. The relatively small number of species (20) present in the flora does not warrant the elaboration of an updated subgeneric classification, which should take into account all species of the genus on a worldwide basis. The leaves of Smilax are very unusual. A. Arber (1918, 1920) believed that the “blade of Smilax is not equivalent to the lamina of a dicotyledon but is merely a ‘pseudolamina’ representing an expansion of the upper region of the petiole.” In this view, tendrils are also proliferations of the petiole and are not homologous to tendrils of dicotyledons. However, D. R. Kaplan (1973) remarked that unifacial monocotyledonous leaves never exhibit a lamina rudiment at the apex, and therefore there is no convincing argument that their apices are simply petiolar. He suggested that the terete leaf axis of monocotyledons is not merely an expanded petiole but is positionally equivalent to the lamina region of a dicotyledonous leaf. Smilax leaves lack an abscission layer, but the distal portion of the petiole undergoes a soft disintegration and the “blade” falls, leaving a rough end on the stub (W. C. Coker 1944). Smilax has numerous uses. Sarsaparilla, a beverage and medicinal used against rheumatism, is obtained from the rhizomes of various species, mainly from Mexico and Central America. A jelly can be made from the rhizomes. The fleshy rhizomes of several vining species, most notably S. smallii, which have a texture of firm, crisp apples, were used by Native Americans and early settlers in the same manner as were potatoes, or else in making bread or mush. The young, succulent stems of several species are cooked and used as asparagus or the tender stems may be used in salads. Seeds were sometimes used as beads (“Indian coral”) and a brown dye can be made from the roots of various species. Woody rhizomes were reportedly used by Native Americans and settlers in making pipes. Some species have been used in Native American (D. E. Moerman 1986) and folk medicine. All species of Smilax are excellent wildlife food and are also browsed, or the rhizomes dug and eaten, by domestic stock. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 476. | FNA vol. 26, p. 468. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Smilacaceae > Smilax | Smilacaceae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | S. herbacea var. pulverulenta | Coprosmanthus, Nemexia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 238. (1803) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1028. (1753): Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 455. (1754) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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