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Smilax glabra Roxb.

Species

Angiosperms > Liliales > Smilacaceae > Smilax

Characteristics

Vines climbing, unarmed. Stem branched, terete, 1--4 m, woody, smooth. Petiole 5--15(--30) cm, narrowly winged for 1/4--3/5 its length; abscission zone apical; tendrils well developed. Leaf blade elliptic-or ovate-lanceolate, 6--15 × 1--7 cm. Inflorescence of 1 umbel, basally not prophyllate; peduncle 1--5(--8) mm, strikingly shorter than petiole; umbels of both sexes 10--30(--60)-flowered, base thickened; bracteoles many. Male flowers: perianth greenish white, slightly 6-angled, scarcely open; outer tepals broadly obovate-orbicular, cucullate, ca. 2 × 3 mm, abaxially deeply channeled, inner ones ca. 1 mm wide, margin irregularly denticulate. Female flowers: inner tepals entire at margin; staminodes 3. Berries blue-black, 6--10 mm in diam., white powdery. Fl. Jul--Nov, fr. Nov--Apr.
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A climbing vine. It does not have prickles. The stem is branched. It is 1-4 m long and woody. The leaf stalk is 5-15 cm long and narrowly winged. There are tendrils. The leaf blade is oval or sword shaped and 6-15 cm long by 1-7 cm wide. The flowering stalk has 10-30 or more flowers. They are greenish white. The fruit is a round, blue-black berry. It is 6-10 mm across.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support climber
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality dioecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 3.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

A tropical plant. It grows on thinly forested slopes along valleys. In China it occurs between 300-1800 m altitude in many provinces. In Sichuan and Yunnan.
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Thickets in uplands, W. China. Forests, thickets, thinly forested slopes along valleys, river banks at elevations of 300-1800 metres.
Light 4-9
Soil humidity 4-6
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

The root is used as a substitute for coffee. The young shoots are fried. The fresh fruit are eaten.
Uses coffee substitute medicinal
Edible fruits roots shoots tubers
Therapeutic use Sexually transmitted diseases (root), Syphilis (root), Wounds and injuries (root), Abscess (unspecified), Antidote (unspecified), Arthritis (unspecified), Cystitis (unspecified), Dysentery (unspecified), Lymphadenopathy (unspecified), Rheumatism (unspecified), Sore (unspecified), Syphilis (unspecified), Furuncle (unspecified), Boil (unspecified), Skin (unspecified), Venereal (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by cuttings, divisions or seedlings.
Mode cuttings divisions seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Smilax glabra unspecified picture

Distribution

Smilax glabra world distribution map, present in Bangladesh, China, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, Taiwan, Province of China, and Viet Nam

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:541462-1
WFO ID wfo-0000742694
COL ID 4XWGT
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Smilax trigona Smilax mengmaensis Smilax blinii Smilax hookeri Smilax dunniana Smilax glabra Smilax lanceolata Smilax calophylla var. concolor Smilax glabra var. maculata
WorldFloraDB 2024