keys to the vascular plants of east texas - Botanical Research ...

SMILAX/SMILACACEAE
1121
30(–60) mm long, 1.5 or more times as long as subtending petioles; fruits black, sometimes with
a bloom, ellipsoid to subglobose, to 6 mm long and 3.5–5 mm wide. Woods, old fields, pastures,
sandy or rocky soils, wet to well-drained situations; widespread in the e 2/3 of TX; e U.S. from
VA s to FL w to IL, KS, OK, and TX. Apr–May. [S. renifolia Small] This is the most widespread of
the East TX GREENBRIERS; it is also one of the most abundant. Leaf morphology is extremely
variable in this species, even within individual plants (Holmes 2002c); it has been suggested
that there may be a correlation between the variation and the degree of plant maturity
(Steyermark 1963). This species is sometimes confused with S. rotundifolia, which differs in
having proportionately shorter peduncles, lacking thickened leaf margins, having prickles
only on the internodes, and not having the sides of leaves indented. A collection from Dallas Co.
(Milam 509, BRIT) has unusually abundant masses of hairs on the stem, as well as consistently
malformed leaves. The common name, STRETCHBERRY, derives from the elastic-like tissue surrounding
the seed—this was sometimes used like chewing gum by pioneers. m/299
Smilax glauca Walter, (whitened with a coating or bloom), SAWBRIER, CATBRIER, CAT GREENBRIER,
WILD SARSAPARILLA, GLAUCOUS-LEAF GREENBRIER, SOWBRIER, SARSAPARILLA-VINE. Plant freely
climbing; � prickly, long, slender rhizomes and non-prickly, knotty, tuberous rhizomes present;
stems terete, often glaucous, with scattered stiff slender prickles 1–5 mm long; leaves semi-evergreen;
leaf blades elliptic to ovate or reniform, to 13 cm long and 10 cm wide, sometimes
mottled, the lower surfaces strikingly glaucous (this, however, can be modified upon heating/
drying), the bases rounded to subcordate, the margins thin (without a rib-like structure)
though sometimes rolled when dry, without any prickles or cusps; peduncles to 30(–50) mm
long, usually 1.5–3 times as long as the subtending petioles; fruits black to bluish, with a conspicuous
bloom (= coating of white wax or powder), subglobose, 8–10 mm in diam. Sandy
thickets, woods, fields, and along streams; Pineywoods and Post Oak Savannah w to e margin of
Blackland Prairie; also n Gulf Prairies and Marshes and South TX Plains and Tarrant Co.
(Turner et al. 2003) in Cross Timbers and Prairies; e U.S. from NY s to FL w to IL and TX. May–
Jun. If the leaf glaucousness is lost, the terete (rather than 4-angled) stems and the peduncles
that are often much longer than the subtending petioles can help distinguish this species from
S. rotundifolia, while the rounded to subcordate leaf bases can separate it from S. smallii (with
cuneate leaf bases).
Smilax lasioneura Hook., (woolly-veined), BLUE RIDGE CARRION-FLOWER. Stems herbaceous, annual,
climbing, erect to ascending, to only 2.5 m long, without prickles; tendrils numerous; leaf
blades ovate to nearly round, pubescent on lower surface, with convex lateral margins, to ca. 8
cm long, the bases cordate; peduncles to ca. 12 cm long; fruits bluish black to black, subglobose,
ca. 8–10 mm in diam. Woods, moist soils; Marion, Nacogdoches, Sabine (BAYLU) and San Augustine
(Correll & Johnston 1970, xerox of US sheet at BAYLU) cos. in the Pineywoods; se
Canada and e U.S. from OH s to FL w to MT and TX. May–Jun. [Nemexia lasioneura (Hook.)
Rydb., S. herbacea L. var. lasioneura (Hook.) A. DC., S. herbacea L. subsp. lasioneura (Hook.) Á.
Löve & D. Löve]. This is the only herbaceous species of Smilax in the East TX flora. Pollination
in a closely related species (S. herbacea L.) is reported to be by small bees, flies, and beetles that
are attracted by the carrion-like odor of the flowers (Sawyer & Anderson 1998).
Smilax laurifolia L., (laurel-leaved), LAUREL GREENBRIER, BAMBOOVINE, BLASPHEMEVINE,
CHINABRIER, LAURELBRIER, BAY-LEAF SMILAX, LAUREL-LEAF GREENBRIER. High-climbing, often extremely
vigorous evergreen with dead as well as living stems often forming impenetrable entanglements;
large, thick, semi-woody, tuberous, pinkish red rhizomes present, but long slender
rhizomes absent; stems thick (to 15 mm), well-armed, especially on lower parts, with stout,
rigid, flattened prickles to 12 mm long; tendrils intermittent, few or lacking on flowering stems;
leaf blades heavily coriaceous, oblong to oblong-linear or oblong-lanceolate to rarely broadly
linear, 6–20 cm long, 1–7.5 cm wide, with only 3 main veins (there are also often 2 additional