Flora of North America species comparison

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Smilax pumila

sarsaparilla vine, sarsparilla vine
Habit Subshrubs or vines; rhizomes black, knotted, 5–6 × 2 cm, often with white to pinkish stolons.
Stems

perennial, prostrate to clambering, branching, slender, to 1 m, ± woody, densely woolly-pubescent, usually prickly (especially at base).
Leaves

mostly evergreen, ± evenly disposed;

petiole 0.05–0.25 cm, often longer on sterile shoots;

blade gray-green, drying to ashy gray-green, obovate to ovate-lanceolate, with 3 prominent veins, 6–10.5 × 5–8 cm, glabrous adaxially, densely puberulent abaxially, base cordate to deeply notched, margins entire, apex bluntly pointed.
Umbels

1–7, axillary to leaves, 5–16-flowered, loose, spherical;

peduncle 0.2–0.8 cm, shorter than to 1.5 as long as petiole of subtending leaf.
Flowers

perianth yellowish;

tepals 3–4 mm;

anthers much shorter than filaments;

ovule 1 per locule;

pedicel thin, 0.1–0.4 cm.
Berries

red, ovoid, 5–8 mm, with acute beaks, not glaucous.

Smilax pumila
Phenology Flowering Oct–Nov.
Habitat Woods, along streams, sandy soil
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; SC; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The red, pointed fruits and densely pubescent herbage of Smilax pumila are distinctive. In Louisiana, the dried leaves are used to prepare a tea for upset stomach.

The name Smilax humilis Miller, which predates S. pumila by 20 years and recently has been determined to apply also to this species, has been proposed for rejection (J. L. Reveal 2000). If that proposal is not adopted, the correct name will be S. humilis.

(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. pulverulenta, S. rotundifolia, S. smallii, S. tamnoides, S. walteri
Synonyms S. humilis, S. pubera, S. puberula
Name authority Walter: Fl. Carol., 244. (1788)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

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