Smilax

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Smilacaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Smilax

  • Description

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    Genus Description - Dioecious, herbaceous to woody vines, with starchy rhizomes; stems cylindrical, wiry, armed or unarmed. Leaves alternate, simple, with arching parallel veins; petioles with a pair of filiform tendrils at junction with the open sheaths. Flowers unisexual, 3-merous, actinomorphic, with 6 perianth segments, produced in axillary umbels. Staminate flowers with 6 stamens, the anthers basifixed; pistillate flowers usually bearing staminodes; ovary 3-carpellate with 1 or 2 ovules per carpel. Fruit a fleshy berry; seeds 1-6.

    Distribution and Ecology - A genus of about 350 species, from tropical and subtropical areas of the world.