Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Liliales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (6/30/18):
Smilax hispida
FAMILY
Smilacaceae
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
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-02-006:
Smilax hispida
FAMILY
Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Smilax hispida
COMMON NAME:
Bristly Greenbrier, Hellfetter, Chinaroot
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.
)
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 (6/30/18):
Smilax hispida
FAMILY
Smilacaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED)
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Smilax tamnoides
FAMILY
Smilacaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-02-006:
Smilax hispida
FAMILY
Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Smilax hispida
1405
Woody vine
Perennial
Dioecious
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common
Look for it in bottomland, riparian, and mesic upland forests, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
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
Unisexual
Radially symmetrical
6 tepals
6 stamens in staminate flowers
Superior ovary
Flowers in axillary umbels
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Black
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast p052
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge p21
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide p332