- For another plant sometimes called Smilax see Asparagus asparagoides
Asparagus asparagoides is a plant native from Southern Africa in the Asparagaceae family...
.
Smilax is a genus of about 300-350
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
, found in temperate zones,
tropicA tropic can refer to:In geography, either of two circles of latitude:*Tropic of Cancer, at 23° 26' 22" N*Tropic of Capricorn, at 23° 26' 22" S*Tropics, referring to the tropical regions of the world.*Tropic, Florida, a town in the United States...
s and subtropics worldwide. In
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
for example about 80 are found (39 of which are endemic), while there are 20 in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
north of
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. They are climbing
flowering plantThe flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...
s, many of which are woody and/or thorny, in the
monocotyledonMonocotyledons or monocots are one of two major groups of flowering plants that are traditionally recognized, the other being dicotyledons or dicots. Monocot seedlings typically have one cotyledon , in contrast to the two cotyledons typical of dicots. Monocots have been recognized at various...
familyIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...
SmilacaceaeSmilacaceae, the greenbrier family, is a family of flowering plants. Up to some decades ago the genera now included in family Smilacaceae were often assigned to a more broadly defined family Liliaceae, but for the past twenty to thirty years most botanists have accepted Smilacaceae as a distinct...
, native throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world.
- For another plant sometimes called Smilax see Asparagus asparagoides
Asparagus asparagoides is a plant native from Southern Africa in the Asparagaceae family...
.
Smilax is a genus of about 300-350
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
, found in temperate zones,
tropicA tropic can refer to:In geography, either of two circles of latitude:*Tropic of Cancer, at 23° 26' 22" N*Tropic of Capricorn, at 23° 26' 22" S*Tropics, referring to the tropical regions of the world.*Tropic, Florida, a town in the United States...
s and subtropics worldwide. In
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
for example about 80 are found (39 of which are endemic), while there are 20 in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
north of
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. They are climbing
flowering plantThe flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...
s, many of which are woody and/or thorny, in the
monocotyledonMonocotyledons or monocots are one of two major groups of flowering plants that are traditionally recognized, the other being dicotyledons or dicots. Monocot seedlings typically have one cotyledon , in contrast to the two cotyledons typical of dicots. Monocots have been recognized at various...
familyIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...
SmilacaceaeSmilacaceae, the greenbrier family, is a family of flowering plants. Up to some decades ago the genera now included in family Smilacaceae were often assigned to a more broadly defined family Liliaceae, but for the past twenty to thirty years most botanists have accepted Smilacaceae as a distinct...
, native throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. Common names include
catbriers, greenbriers, prickly-ivys and
smilaxes.
"Sarsaparilla" (also zarzaparrilla, sarsparilla) is a name used specifically for the
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width, amounting to 11,100 km
2. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harboring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n
S. regelii as well as a catch-all term in particular for American species. Occasionally, the non-woody species such as the Smooth Herbaceous Greenbrier (
S. herbacea) are separated as genus
Nemexia; they are commonly known by the rather ambiguous name
"carrion flowerCarrion flowers or stinking flowers are flowers that emit an odor that smells like rotting flesh. While a typical flower may be stereotyped as a colorful, sweet-smelling structure that attracts insects and rewards them with pollen or nectar, this scenario is somewhat perverted for carrion flowers...
s".
Greenbriers get their scientific name from the Greek myth of
KrokusIn Classical mythology, Krokus was a mortal man who, unhappy with his love affair with Smilax, was turned by the gods into a plant bearing his name: the crocus Saffron. Smilax is believed to have been given a similar fate and was transformed into bindweed. In one variation of the myth, Krokus was...
and the
nymphA nymph in Greek mythology is a female spirit typically associated with a particular location or landform. Other nymphs, always in the shape of young nubile maidens, were part of the retinue of a god, such as Dionysus, Hermes, or Pan, or a goddess, generally Artemis. Nymphs were the frequent target...
Smilax. Though this myth has numerous forms, it always centers around the unfulfilled and tragic love of a
mortalHumans are bipedal primates belonging to the species Homo sapiens in Hominidae, the great ape family. They are the only surviving member of the genus Homo. Humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem solving...
man who is turned into
a flowerCrocus is a genus of perennial flowering plants, native to a large area from coastal and subalpine areas of central and southern Europe , North Africa and the Middle East, across Central Asia to western China.The genus Crocus is placed botanically in the iris family...
, and a woodland
nymphA nymph in Greek mythology is a female spirit typically associated with a particular location or landform. Other nymphs, always in the shape of young nubile maidens, were part of the retinue of a god, such as Dionysus, Hermes, or Pan, or a goddess, generally Artemis. Nymphs were the frequent target...
who is transformed into a brambly vine. (Compare the story of Barbara Allen and sweet William:
They buried Barbara in the old church yard
They buried Sweet William beside her
Out of his grave grew a red, red rose
And out of hers a briar)
Description and ecology
On their own,
Smilax plants will grow as shrubs, forming dense impenetrable thickets. They will also grow over trees and other plants up to 10 m high, their hooked thorns allowing them to hang onto and scramble over branches. The genus includes both
deciduousDeciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
and
evergreenIn botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
species. The
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
are heart-shaped and vary from 4-30 cm long in different species.
Greenbrier is
dioeciousPlant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes morphological aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
, however only about one in three colonies have plants of both sexes. Plants flower in May and June with white/green clustered
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s. If
pollinationPollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilization and sexual reproduction. Pollen grains, which contain the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself...
occurs, the plant will produce a bright red to blue-black spherical
berryThe botanical definition of a berry is a simple fruit produced from a single ovary, such as a grape or a tomato. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. The flowers of these plants have a superior ovary formed by the fusion of...
fruitThe term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from...
about 5-10 mm in diameter that matures in the fall.
The berry is rubbery in texture and has a large, spherical seed in the center. The fruit stays intact through winter, when
birdBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
s and other animals eat them to survive. The seeds are passed unharmed in the animal's droppings. Since many
Smilax colonies are single clones that have spread by
rhizomeIn botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
s, both sexes may not be present at a site, in which case no fruit is formed.
Smilax is a very damage-tolerant plant capable of growing back from its
rhizomeIn botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
s after being cut down or burned down by
fireA wildfire is any uncontrolled fire that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Reflecting the type of vegetation or fuel, other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, grass fire, hill fire, peat fire, vegetation fire, and wildland fire may be used to describe the same phenomenon...
. This, coupled with the fact that birds and other small animals spread the seeds over large areas, makes the plants very hard to get rid of. It grows best in moist woodlands with a soil
pHpH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution. It is defined as the cologarithm of the activity of dissolved hydrogen ions . Hydrogen ion activity coefficients cannot be measured experimentally, so they are based on theoretical calculations...
between 5 and 6. The seeds have the greatest chance of germinating after being exposed to a freeze.
Besides their berries providing an important food for birds and other animals during the winter, greenbrier plants also provide shelter for many other animals. The thorny thickets can effectively protect small animals from larger predators who cannot enter the prickly tangle.
DeerDeer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. They include for example Moose, Red Deer, Reindeer, Roe and Chital. Animals from related families within the order Artiodactyla are often also considered to be deer – these include muntjac and water deer...
and other herbivorous
mammalMammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose females are characterized by the possession of mammary glands while both males and females are characterized by sweat glands, hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in the brain.Mammals are divided into three main...
s will eat the foliage, as will some
invertebrateAn invertebrate is an animal without a vertebral column. The group includes 95% of all animal species — all animals except those in the Chordate subphylum Vertebrata ....
s such as
LepidopteraLepidoptera is an order of insects that includes moths and butterflies. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
(butterflies and
mothA moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. The differences between butterflies and moths are more than just taxonomy. Sometimes the names "Rhopalocera" and "Heterocera" are used to formalize the popular distinction...
s, which also often drink nectar from the flowers.
Among the Lepidoptera utilizing
Smilax are Hesperiidae like the Water Snow Flat (
Tagiades litigiosa),
PieridaeThe Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing approximately 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and Asia. Most pierid butterflies are white, yellow or orange in coloration, often with black spots...
like the Small Grass Yellow (
Eurema smilax), or moths like the peculiar and sometimes flightless genus
ThyrocopaThyrocopa is a genus of oecophorid moth endemic to Hawaii. The taxon has approximately forty species, including some flightless species.-Adults:...
. But particularly fond of greenbriers are certain
NymphalidaeThe Nymphalidae is a family of about 5,000 species of butterflies which are distributed throughout most of the world. These are usually medium sized to large butterflies. Most species have a reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colourful wings flat when resting. They are also called...
caterpillars, for example those of:
- Faunis
Faunis is a genus of Asian butterflies in the family Nymphalidae. They are among the butterflies commonly known as "fauns" or "duffers".Larvae are found on Musa, Smilax, and Pandanus host plants....
– duffer butterflies
- Kaniska canace – Blue Admiral (on China Smilax, Smilax china)
- Phalanta phalantha – Common Leopard (on S. tetragona)
Uses
An extract from the roots of some species – most significantly Jamaican Sarsaparilla (
S. regelii) – is used to make the sarsaparilla drink and other
root beerRoot beer is a carbonated drink originally brewed using sassafras. Root beer, popularized in North America, comes in two forms: alcoholic and soft drink. The historical root beer was analogous to small beer, in that the process provided a drink with a very low alcohol content...
s, as well as herbal drinks like the popular
Baba RootsBaba Roots, which was founded by entrepreneur William Webb, is a herbal energy drink popular among young people in Jamaica. It is said to increase sexual energy and alertness. It is marketed in Jamaica as a homegrown and natural alternative to Red Bull....
from
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width, amounting to 11,100 km
2. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harboring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
. The roots may also be used in soups or stews. The young shoots can be eaten raw or cooked and are said to taste like
asparagusAsparagus officinalis is a flowering plant species in the genus Asparagus from which the vegetable known as asparagus is obtained. It is native to most of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia...
, and the berries can be eaten both raw and cooked.
Fúlíng jiābǐngFuling jiabing , also known Fu Ling Bing or Tuckahoe Pie,is a traditional snack food of Beijing and is an integral part of their culture. It is a pancake-like snack made from flour, sugar, and fuling , rolled around nuts, honey, and other ingredients...
(traditional Chinese: 茯苓夾餅; simplified Chinese: 茯苓夹饼), the famous snack from the
BeijingBeijing is a metropolis in northern China and the capital of the People's Republic of China...
region, is named after its key ingredient
fúlíng – a quite literal translation would be "stuffed
Smilax pancakes".
S. glabra is used in
Chinese herbologyChinese Herbology or 中药, is the common name for the subject of Chinese materia medica . It includes the basic theory of Chinese materia medica, "crude medicine," "prepared drug in slices" and traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations' source, collection and preparation,...
. It is also a key ingredient in the Chinese medical dessert
guīlínggāoGuīlínggāo is a Chinese medicine that is traditionally made with the powdered shell from the critically endangered three-lined box turtle and China roots . It is also eaten as a dessert, made in the form of a jelly...
, which makes use of its property to set certain kinds of jelly.
The powdered roots of Jamaican Sarsaparilla are known as
Rad. Sarzae. Jam. in
pharmacyPharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences, and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of medication....
and are used medicinally as a cure for
goutGout is a disease hallmarked by elevated levels of uric acid in the bloodstream. In this condition, crystals of monosodium urate or uric acid are deposited on the articular cartilage of joints, tendons, and surrounding tissues...
in
Latin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,501 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n countries. Jamaican Sarsaparilla contains at least four phytosterols of the
progesteroneProgesterone also known as P4 is a C-21 steroid hormone involved in the female menstrual cycle, pregnancy and embryogenesis of humans and other species...
class, and is therefore recommended by herbalists as a remedy for the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. It appears to be most effective at alleviating these symptoms in premenopausal women over the age of 35.
Smilax preparations, for example of
S. china, are also commonly used in herbalism to treat certain skin diseases which are caused or aggravated by hormonal imbalance, such as
psoriasisPsoriasis is a chronic, non-contagious autoimmune disease that affects the skin and joints. It commonly causes red, scaly patches to appear on the skin. The scaly patches caused by psoriasis, called psoriatic plaques, are areas of inflammation and excessive skin production. Skin rapidly...
and
seborrhoeic dermatitisSeborrhoeic dermatitis is a skin disorder affecting the scalp, face, and trunk causing scaly, flaky, itchy, red skin. It particularly affects the sebum-gland rich areas of skin.-Causes:The cause of seborrhoeic dermatitis remains unknown, although many factors have been implicated...
.
Köhler's Medicinal PlantsKohler's Medicinal Plants is a German rare medicinal guide published in 1887 in three volumes...
of 1887 discusses the American Sarsaparilla (
S. aristolochiifolia), but as early as about 1590, the Persian scholar Imad al-Din Mahmud ibn Mas'ud Shirazi gave a detailed evaluation of the medical properties of Chinaroot, especially its use against
syphilisSyphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochetal bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The route of transmission of syphilis is almost always through sexual contact, although there are examples of congenital syphilis via transmission from mother to child in utero.The...
.
DiosgeninDiosgenin, a steroid sapogenin, is the product of hydrolysis by acids, strong bases, or enzymes of saponins, extracted from the tubers of Dioscorea wild yam...
, another
steroidA steroid is a terpenoid lipid characterized by its sterane core and additional functional groups. The core is a carbon structure of four fused rings: three cyclohexane rings and one cyclopentane ring. The steroids vary by the functional groups attached to these rings and the oxidation state of the...
al
sapogeninSapogenins are the aglycones, or non-saccharide, portions of the family of natural products known as saponins. Sapogenins contain steroid or other triterpene frameworks as their key organic feature. For example, steroidal sapogenins like tiggenin, neogitogenin, and tokorogenin have been isolated...
, is reported from
S. menispermoidea. Other active compounds reported from various greenbrier species are parillin (also sarsaparillin or smilacin), sarsapic acid, sarsapogenin and sarsaponin.
Due to the nectar-rich flowers, species like
S. medica and
S. officinalis are also useful honey plants.
The common floral decoration
smilax is
Asparagus asparagoidesAsparagus asparagoides is a plant native from Southern Africa in the Asparagaceae family...
. For example, in the stage version of
HarveyHarvey is a 1944 play by American playwright Mary Chase. Directed by Antoinette Perry, the play premiered on 1 November 1944 at the 48th Street Theatre on Broadway where it was staged for 1,775 performances before closing on January 15 1949. The original production was directed by Antoinette Perry...
, the opening scene describes the home as being "festooned with smilax".
Smilax in popular culture
- The leaves of Jamaican Sarsaparilla (S. regelii) are a favorite foods of the Smurfs
The Smurfs are a fictional group of small blue creatures who live in Smurf Village somewhere in the woods. The Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced Smurfs to the world in a series of comic strips, making their first appearance in the Belgian comics magazine Spirou on October 23, 1958...
. The wooden robotA robot is a virtual or mechanical artificial agent. In practice, it is usually an electro-mechanical machine which is guided by computer or electronic programming, and is thus able to do tasks on its own...
Clockwork Smurf is able to process the leaves into hot soup. In the film versions, the Smurfs are also fond of the berries, which they call "Smurfberries".
- In the RPG video game Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, often shortened and officially known in Japan as , is a hybrid adventure/console role-playing game developed by Square and published by Nintendo. Nintendo first released the game on March 9, 1996 in Japan and on May 13, 1996 in North America...
, "Smilax" is a boss Piranha Plant encountered before entering the Nimbus Land.
- In the Willa Cather short story The Sculptor's Funeral, smilax wreathes a sculpture in the house of Mrs. Merrick.
- In the 1974 TV series Land of the Lost
Land of the Lost is a children's television series created and produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. During its original run, it was broadcast on the NBC television network. It has since become a cult classic and is now available on DVD. It was shot in Los Angeles, California...
, Holly often attempted to make smilax cakes resulting in a doughy, gummy, barely edible confection.
- In the 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful and has become a classic of modern American literature...
by Harper Lee, protagonist Atticus FinchAtticus Finch is a fictional character in Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus is a lawyer and resident of the fictional Maycomb County, Alabama, and the father of Jeremy Atticus "Jem" Finch and Jean Louise "Scout" Finch...
is paid in part with a "crate of smilax and hollyHolly is a genus of approximately 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family.-Description and ecology:...
".
Selected species
The genus is divided into a number of sections. Section
Smilax includes "
woodyA woody plant is a plant that uses wood as a structural tissue. They are typically perennial plants that have their stems and larger roots reinforced with wood produced adjacent to the vascular tissues: typically the main stem and larger branches and roots are covered by a layer of thickened bark....
," prickly
vineThe term vine may refer to a climbing or trailing plant. The word, derived from Latin vīnea, in the original sense referred to the grapevines . The modern extended sense is mostly restricted to North American English, which uses "grapevine" to refer to the grape-bearing Vitis species...
s of temperate
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
, for example Cat Greenbrier (
S. glaucaSmilax glauca is a woody vine in the family Smilacaceae, native to central and eastern portions of the United States. Thorny stems climb by means of tendrils. Leaves are notably gray-glaucous to whitish beneath. Commonly inhabiting wooded areas and fences and often found growing with other...
) and Common Greenbrier (
S. rotundifolia). Section
Coprosmanthus includes unarmed herbaceous plants of temperate North America, for example "
carrion flowerCarrion flowers or stinking flowers are flowers that emit an odor that smells like rotting flesh. While a typical flower may be stereotyped as a colorful, sweet-smelling structure that attracts insects and rewards them with pollen or nectar, this scenario is somewhat perverted for carrion flowers...
s" like the Smooth Herbaceous Greenbrier (
S. herbaceaSmilax herbacea is a plant in the catbrier family, Smilacaceae.-Description:...
).
External links