Smilax anceps Willd.

Climbing, glabrous shrub.. Stems to 5 m., slender, woody, terete to ribbed or angular, flexuose, basally often armed with small prickles, 1-3 mm.. Leaves alternate; petiole 0.5-2.5 cm. long, with pair of long, firm, spirally curled tendrils at base; blade circular to oblong, 4-17 cm. long, 1.5-12 cm. broad, acute or obtuse, cuspidate, rounded, obscurely cordate or occasionally cuneate at the base, subcoriaceous, 5-7-nerved including marginal nerves, reticulately nerved between.. Inflorescence of dense, solitary, shortly peduncled, many-flowered axillary umbels; peduncles 0.8-2 cm. long, with a pair of persistent, ovate, amplexicaul obtuse bracteoles; pedicels longer than the flowers, 0.4-1.2 cm. long.. Perianth-segments linear to oblong, obtuse, 3-5 mm., greenish white, brownish or yellowish, the inner narrower than the outer.. Stamens equal to or shorter than perianth, 3 sterile; anthers oblong, much shorter than the filaments.. Ovary obovoid to ellipsoid, 2 mm. long; stigmas papillose, 1/3 the length of the ovary.. Berry purple or black, 8-10 mm. wide, 1-2-seeded; pedicel 0.4-2.2 cm. long, articulated at the apex.. Seeds greyish purple.

A tropical plant. It grows in savannah and forests in West Africa. It is often along the edges of rivers.

The tubers are cooked and eaten as a starchy staple.

Plants can be grown from seeds.