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Smilax walteri

(Coral Greenbrier)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Coral Greenbrier, Red-Bead Greenbrier, Red-Berried Bamboo, Red-Berried Greenbrier, Red-Berry Greenbrier, Walters Smilax

Description

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Family Smilacaceae

Shrubs , herbs, or vines , perennial , rhizomatous . Stems erect or climbing , usually prickly, sometimes unarmed . Leaves opposite or alternate, prominently 3-veined, reticulate between veins, usually bearing tendrils , usually leathery. Inflorescences umbellate [or racemose or spicate ]. Flowers unisexual , staminate and pistillate on different plants ; tepals 6, distinct , rarely united into perianth tube ; stamens 2-3-whorled, anthers 1-locular; pistillate flowers bearing staminodes, pistil 3-carpellate; ovary 2-locular, 1-2 ovules per locule. Fruits baccate . Seeds 1-3.

Genera 4(-12), species ca. 375 (1 genus, 20 species in the flora ) : worldwide, mainly tropical to subtropical , a few temperate .

The leaves of Smilacaceae are atypical of monocotyledons in being reticulate between major veins. The family is closely related to and sometimes included in Liliaceae. It differs mainly in leaf characteristics and in being dioecious.[1]

Genus Smilax

Shrubs , vines , or herbs; rhizomes tuberous or stoloniferous , woody; roots filiform . Stems erect , sprawling or, more often, climbing , simple or branching, unarmed or armed with prickles; woody or herbaceous. Leaves deciduous or evergreen , alternate; stipules present; tendrils often present (few or rudimentary in S. hugeri and S. ecirrhata, absent in S. biltmoreana), paired , originating from petioles ; blade linear , oblong , ovate , or, sometimes, reduced to scales in herbaceous species, base sometimes lobed . Inflorescences umbellate , axillary to leaves or bracts, loose to dense, pedunculate . Flowers unisexual ; tepals 6, greenish, yellow, or bronze, ovate to elliptic ; staminate flowers sometimes with pistillode , stamens 6, anthers basifixed , dehiscence introrse ; pistillate flowers with 6 staminodes, style short or absent, stigmas 3, recurved, ligulate . Berries black, blue, purple, red, or orange. x = 13-16.

Species ca. 350: worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, with extensions into temperate areas.

The North American herbaceous species of Smilax (numbers 2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 15 in this treatment) traditionally have been placed in sect. Nemexia (Rafinesque) A. de Candolle. J. K . Mangaly (1968) concluded that the correct name for this group at that rank is sect. Coprosmanthus (Torrey) Bentham. The remaining North American species, all more or less woody, belong to sect. Smilax. The relatively small number of species (20) present in the flora does not warrant the elaboration of an updated subgeneric classification, which should take into account all species of the genus on a worldwide basis.

The leaves of Smilax are very unusual. A. Arber (1918, 1920) believed that the blade of Smilax is not equivalent to the lamina of a dicotyledon but is merely a pseudolamina representing an expansion of the upper region of the petiole. In this view , tendrils are also proliferations of the petiole and are not homologous to tendrils of dicotyledons. However, D. R. Kaplan (1973) remarked that unifacial monocotyledonous leaves never exhibit a lamina rudiment at the apex, and therefore there is no convincing argument that their apices are simply petiolar . He suggested that the terete leaf axis of monocotyledons is not merely an expanded petiole but is positionally equivalent to the lamina region of a dicotyledonous leaf. Smilax leaves lack an abscission layer, but the distal portion of the petiole undergoes a soft disintegration and the blade falls, leaving a rough end on the stub (W. C. Coker 1944).

Smilax has numerous uses. Sarsaparilla, a beverage and medicinal used against rheumatism, is obtained from the rhizomes of various species, mainly from Mexico and Central America. A jelly can be made from the rhizomes. The fleshy rhizomes of several vining species, most notably S. smallii, which have a texture of firm, crisp apples, were used by Native Americans and early settlers in the same manner as were potatoes, or else in making bread or mush. The young, succulent stems of several species are cooked and used as asparagus or the tender stems may be used in salads . Seeds were sometimes used as beads (Indian coral ) and a brown dye can be made from the roots of various species. Woody rhizomes were reportedly used by Native Americans and settlers in making pipes. Some species have been used in Native American (D. E. Moerman 1986) and folk medicine. All species of Smilax are excellent wildlife food and are also browsed, or the rhizomes dug and eaten, by domestic stock.[2]

Physical Description

Species Smilax walteri

Vines ; rhizomes slender, running . Stems perennial , climbing to clambering , branching, slender, 2-6 m , woody, glabrous ; prickles scattered , subulate . Leaves deciduous to semievergreen; petiole 0.5-1 cm; blade abaxially green, drying to lightly orange-tinted brown, ovate-oblong, to ovate-lanceolate, with 3 prominent veins, thin, 6-10 × 3-7 cm, glabrous or minutely pubescent abaxially, not glaucous, base rounded , subcordate , or, sometimes, cuneate at petiole insertion, margins entire, apex acute, mucronate . Umbels few to many, axillary to leaves, few-flowered, loose , hemispherical; peduncle 0.5-2 cm, generally shorter than petiole of subtending leaf. Flowers: perianth brownish yellow; tepals 3-6 mm; ovule 1 per locule; pedicel 0.5-1 cm. Berries bright red to orange, globose , 7-9 mm, shining. [source]

The brightly colored fruits make Smilax walteri conspicuous in the winter. [source]

Habit: Shrub , Subshrub , Vine • Growth Form: Thicket Forming • Shape and Orientation: Climbing

Flowers: Bloom Period: April, May, June. • Flower Color: Green • Flower Conspicuous: No

Seeds: Seed Spread Rate: Slow • Seedling Vigor: High • Fruit/Seed Abundance: High • Fruit/Seed Color: Red • Fruit/Seed Conspicuous: Yes • Cold Stratification Required: Yes

Foliage: Foliage Color: Green • Foliage Porosity Summer: Moderate • Foliage Porosity Winter: Moderate • Foliage Texture: Coarse • Fall Conspicuous: No • Leaf Retention: Yes

Size/Age/Growth

Active Growth Period: Spring and Summer • Growth Rate: Rapid • Mature Height (feet): 1.0 • Maximum Height at 20 Years (feet): 1 • Size: 4-6' tall. • Vegetative Spread Rate: Rapid • Lifespan: Lifespan

Habitat

Wet thickets, low pinelands, swamps , boggy areas; 0--350 m (Ref. 103913).

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 802 meters (0 to 2,631 feet).[3]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial • Coppice Potential: No • Progagated by Bulbs: No • Propagated by Bare Root: Yes • Propagated by Container: Yes • Propagated by Corms: No • Propagated by Cuttings: No • Propagated by Seed: Yes • Propagated by Sod: No • Propagated by Sprigs: No • Propagated by Tubers: No • Fruit/Seed Period Begin: Summer • Fruit/Seed Period End: Fall • Fruit/Seed Persistence: Yes

Growth

Soil: Adapted to Medium Textured: Adapted to Medium Textured Soils • Adapted to Coarse Textured Soils: Yes • Anaerobic Tolerance: High • Salinity Tolerance: None • CaCO3 Tolerance: Low • Minimum pH: 4.0 • Maximum pH: 7.0 • Fertility Requirement: Medium

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade. • Shade Tolerance: Tolerant

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: Low • Minimum Precipitation: 40 • Maximum Precipitation: 60 • Moisture Use: High

Temperature: Minimum Temperature (F): -8 • Minimum Frost Free Days: 180 • Cold Hardiness: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 09-Jul-2004

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Smilax

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 31 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

S. aristolochiifolia (Sarsaparilla) · S. aspera (Rough Bindweed) · S. auriculata (Catbrier) · S. australis (Barbwire Vine) · S. biltmoreana (Biltmore's Carrionflower) · S. bona-nox (Cowvine Smilax Bona-Nox) · S. californica (California Greenbrier) · S. china (China Root) · S. coriacea (Everglades Greenbrier) · S. ecirrata (Carrionflower) · S. ecirrhata (Carrion Flower) · S. glauca (Cat Greenbrier) · S. glauca var. glauca (Sawbrier) · S. herbacea (Carrion Flower Vine) · S. herbacea lasioneuron (Blue Ridge Carrion-Flower) · S. hugeri (Huger's Carrionflower) · S. illinoensis (Illinois Greenbrier) · S. jamesii (English Peak Greenbrier) · S. lasioneura (Blue Ridge Carrion-Flower) · S. lasioneuron (Blue Ridge Carrion-Flower) · S. laurifolia (Bamboo Vine) · S. melastomifolia (Aka'awa) · S. pseudochina (Bamboo Vine) · S. pulverulenta (Downy Carrionflower) · S. pumila (Dwarf Smilax) · S. regelii (Jamaican Sarsaparilla) · S. renifolia (Kidneyleaf Greenbrier) · S. rotundifolia (Bull Briar) · S. smallii (Jackson Vine) · S. tamnoides (Bristly Greenbriar) · S. walteri (Coral Greenbrier)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 22, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Walter C. Holmes "Smilacaceae". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 12, 13, 14, 17, 20, 468. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Smilax". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 14, 468, 469, 474, 477. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Mean = 61.660 meters (202.297 feet), Standard Deviation = 81.850 based on 221 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012