Smilax china L.

A deciduous rambling shrub, with round stems sparingly armed with slightly recurved prickles. Leaves 2 to 3 in. long, very variable, roundish ovate, or broadly oval, or sometimes broader than long, ending in a short abrupt point, the base tapered or truncate or slightly heart-shaped, five- or seven-veined; stalk 1⁄3 to 1 in. long. Flowers yellowish green, often numerous in umbels, the main-stalk of which is about 1 in. long. There are often over twenty flowers in an umbel. Fruits 3⁄8 in. in diameter, globose, bright red.

Native of China, Japan and Korea; introduced by Philip Miller from China shortly before 1759, and again by Wilson in 1907. It has a large, fleshy root-stock, said to be eaten by the Chinese. It also yields a drug known as ‘China Root’, once highly esteemed as a remedy against gout, though it is likely that other Chinese species were used for the same purpose (Norton, in Pl. Wils., Vol. III, p. 4).