Smilax pulverulenta |
Smilax hugeri |
|
---|---|---|
downy carrionflower |
Huger's carrionflower |
|
Habit | Herbs. | Herbs; rhizomes knotty, slender. |
Stems | annual, climbing, branching, to 2.5 m, herbaceous, glabrous; prickles absent. |
annual, erect, 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. |
few, disposed distally or evenly distributed, subequal; petiole shorter than blade; tendrils absent or rudimentary; blade oblong, oblong-ovate, or sometimes oval, 2.5–12 × 1.5–7.5 cm, not glaucous, puberulent abaxially, base rounded to slightly cordate, margins entire, apex broadly rounded to obtuse or abruptly pointed. |
Umbels | numerous, axillary to leaves, 10–35-flowered, globose; peduncle equaling or shorter than subtending leaf. |
1–3, proximalmost axillary to bracts, 5–12-flowered. |
Flowers | perianth greenish; tepals 3.5–5 mm; anthers shorter than filaments, ovules (1–)2 per locule; pedicel 0.5–2.2 cm. |
perianth greenish; tepals 3–3.5 mm; anthers shorter than filaments; ovules (1–)2 per locule. |
Berries | black, subglobose, 8–10 mm, not glaucous. |
globose, 8–10 mm diam., glaucous. |
2n | = 26. |
= 26. |
Smilax pulverulenta |
Smilax hugeri |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Apr–May. |
Habitat | Rich woods, thickets, usually in calcareous soils | Moist, mixed woods and wooded slopes |
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
|
AL; FL; GA; NC; SC; TN
|
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.) |
Smilax hugeri is distinguished from S. ecirrhata and S. biltmoreana mainly by leaf morphology. Specimens from Tennessee are not sharply distinct from S. ecirrhata. J. K. Mangaly (1968) cited this as possible evidence of divergence from that species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 476. | FNA vol. 26, p. 474. |
Parent taxa | Smilacaceae > Smilax | Smilacaceae > Smilax |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. herbacea var. pulverulenta | Nemexia hugeri, S. ecirrhata var. hugeri |
Name authority | Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 238. (1803) | (Small) J. B. Norton ex Pennell: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 43: 420. (1916) |
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