GREENBRIER (Smilax rotundifolia).
GREENBRIER (Smilax rotundifolia).
GREENBRIER (Smilax rotundifolia).

SMILAX (Lat., from ςμῖλαξ, yew). A genus of about 200 species, mostly herbs and woody climbing or trailing plants, of the natural order Liliacete, most numerous in the temperate and tropical parts of Asia and America. In some species (the greenbriers) the stems are often very prickly. The roots or rootstocks of a numberr of species, particularly Smilax medica and Smilax papyracea of Central and South America, yield sarsaparilla. The fleshy, starchy rhizomes of others (Smilax China of Eastern Asia and Smilax pseudo-China of the Southern United States) have similar properties and are sometimes used, the former as food, the latter as medicine. There are at least a dozen American species, the best known of which are the Smilax herbacea, carrion flower, with herbaceous stems, and Smilax rotundifolia, the greenbrier or horsebrier. The smilax commonly cultivated in greenhouses for decorative purposes is Asparagus medeoloides, a native of South Africa.