OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

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



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.

image of Smilax hispida var. hispida, Bristly Greenbrier, Hellfetter, Chinaroot, Chaneyroot

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_smhi_001_lvd

        

image of Smilax hispida var. hispida, Bristly Greenbrier, Hellfetter, Chinaroot, Chaneyroot

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_smta2_001_lvd

        

image of Smilax hispida var. hispida, Bristly Greenbrier, Hellfetter, Chinaroot, Chaneyroot

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).

image of Smilax hispida var. hispida, Bristly Greenbrier, Hellfetter, Chinaroot, Chaneyroot

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.

image of Smilax hispida var. hispida, Bristly Greenbrier, Hellfetter, Chinaroot, Chaneyroot

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.

image of Smilax hispida var. hispida, Bristly Greenbrier, Hellfetter, Chinaroot, Chaneyroot

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

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

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)

map
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!



 


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