Smilax hispida - (image 1 of 5)
Taxonomy
Family: Smilacaceae
Habitat
Moist woods and thickets. Rich dune slopes.
Associates
Distribution
CT and NY, south to northern FL, west to MI, southern MN, NE, and TX.
Morphology
Woody vine. Stems long; lower part of stems covered in dark, flexible, needle-like prickles; young stems terete or variously angled but not quadrangular. Leaves deciduous, shiny green, ovate to rotund, acute to rounded, margin not thickened. Peduncles flattened, usually at least twice as long as subtending petiole; flowers small, greenish in globular umbels. Fruit a black, 1- or 2-seeded berry.
Notes
Flowers May to June
Wetland indicator: Upland
Swink & Wilhelm use the name Smilax taminoides L. var. hispida (Torr.) Fern for this plant, as does the USDA. In Gleason & Cronquist the authority given for S. hispida is Rafinesque. A typographical error perhaps?
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of
Northeastern United States
and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
USDA, NRCS. 2002.
The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA
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Michael Hough © 2009 |