Smilax pulverulenta |
Smilax tamnoides |
|
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downy carrionflower |
bristly greenbrier, China root, hellfetter |
|
Habit | Herbs. | |
Stems | annual, climbing, branching, to 2.5 m, herbaceous, glabrous; prickles absent. |
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 | 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. |
± 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 | numerous, axillary to leaves, 10–35-flowered, globose; peduncle equaling or shorter than subtending leaf. |
many, axillary to leaves, to 25-flowered, open to dense, spherical; peduncle often drooping, 1.5–6.5 cm. |
Flowers | perianth greenish; tepals 3.5–5 mm; anthers shorter than filaments, ovules (1–)2 per locule; pedicel 0.5–2.2 cm. |
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, subglobose, 8–10 mm, not glaucous. |
black, globose, 6–10 mm, not glaucous. |
Vines | ; rhizomes knotty, short. |
|
2n | = 26. |
|
Smilax pulverulenta |
Smilax tamnoides |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Rich woods, thickets, usually in calcareous soils | Wet to dry woods, thickets, bottomlands |
Elevation | 0–900 m (0–3000 ft) | 0–400 m (0–1300 ft) |
Distribution |
AR; DC; DE; IL; IN; KY; MD; MN; MO; NC; NE; NJ; NY; PA; TN; VA; WV
|
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON
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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.) |
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. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 476. | FNA vol. 26, p. 477. |
Parent taxa | Smilacaceae > Smilax | Smilacaceae > Smilax |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. herbacea var. pulverulenta | S. grandifolia, S. hispida, S. hispida var. australis, S. hispida var. montana, S. tamnoides var. hispida |
Name authority | Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 238. (1803) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1030. (1753) |
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