Smilax hispida Muhl.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Smilax hispida' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/smilax/smilax-hispida/). Accessed 2025-03-15.

Family

Smilacaceae

Genus

Smilax

Common Names

Hag Brier

Synonyms

S. tamnoides var. hispida (Muhl.) Fern.

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

globose: globularSpherical or globe-shaped.
ovate: Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
umbel: Inflorescence in which pedicels all arise from same point on peduncle. May be flat-topped (as in e.g. Umbelliferae) to spherical (as in e.g. Araliaceae). umbellate In form of umbel.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Smilax hispida' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/smilax/smilax-hispida/). Accessed 2025-03-15.

Smilax hispida (Shawnee State Forest, Ohio, August 2022). Image John Grimshaw.

A climbing deciduous shrub, with round stems furnished with slender bristles and straight prickles, densely so towards the base; branches almost without them. Leaves heart-shaped or broadly ovate, 2 to 6 in. long, 11⁄2 to 41⁄2 in. wide, five- or sometimes nine-nerved, finely pointed, green on both sides, margins often minutely jagged; stalk 1⁄4 to 3⁄4 in. long. Flowers greenish yellow, borne on an umbel with a main-stalk 1 to 2 in. long. Berries blue-black, globose, about 1⁄4 in. wide.

Native of the eastern and central United States and Ontario; introduced early in the 18th century. This species thrives well in this country, and is well marked by its large leaves and very bristly stems.

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