Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Liliales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Smilax hispida var. hispida
FAMILY
Smilacaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina website.
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED)
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Smilax tamnoides
FAMILY
Smilacaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN (MISAPPLIED) Flora of North America
Smilax tamnoides
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-02-006:
Smilax hispida FAMILY Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Smilax tamnoides var. hispida
SYNONYMOUS WITH The woody Smilaxes of the United States (Coker, 1944)
Smilax hispida var. hispida
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Smilax hispida var. hispida
COMMON NAME:
Bristly Greenbrier, Hellfetter, Chinaroot, Chaneyroot
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_smhi_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_smta2_001_lvd
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmstamnoides_wad1
March Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Prickles are round, pliant and bristlelike, per Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989).
)
Bryan England bry_shispida_greenbelow
December Wake County NC
Annie Louise Wilkerson, MD Nature Preserve Park
Undersides of leaf blades green, not glaucous, per Flora of North America.
)
Bryan England bry_shispida_lfmargin
December Wake County NC
Annie Louise Wilkerson, MD Nature Preserve Park
Leaf blade margins uniformly minutely serrulate in basal half, per Flora of North America.
)
Bryan England bry_shispida_prickles
December Wake County NC
Annie Louise Wilkerson, MD Nature Preserve Park
Prickles of the stem abundant, thin and needle-like, shiny brown or black, per Weakley's Flora (2018).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Smilax hispida var. hispida
FAMILY
Smilacaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED)
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Smilax tamnoides
FAMILY
Smilacaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN (MISAPPLIED)
Flora of North America
Smilax tamnoides
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-02-006:
Smilax hispida
FAMILY
Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Smilax tamnoides var. hispida
SYNONYMOUS WITH
The woody Smilaxes of the United States (Coker, 1944)
Smilax hispida var. hispida
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Smilax hispida var. hispida
1405
Woody vine
Perennial
Dioecious
Habitat: Bottomland, riparian, and mesic upland forests, especially along brownwater rivers, and in other situations with relatively high pH and nutrients, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Stems usually armed with abundant dark, slender, bristlelike prickles
LEAVES:
Deciduous to semi-evergreen
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring
Yellowish-green/Brownish
Radially symmetrical
6 tepals
6 stamens in staminate flowers
Superior ovary
Unisexual
Flowers in axillary umbels
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Black
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p072
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p052
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p21
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p332
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