Downy Carrion Flower

The distribution of Smilax pulverulenta is disjunct. The eastern distribution is centered in the mid-Atlantic United States, while the western distribution is centered in the Ozark Plateau of Missouri.

Herbs. Stems annual, climbing, branching, to 2.5 m, herbaceous, glabrous; prickles absent. Leaves evenly distributed; petiole ± equaling blade; tendrils numerous, long, functional; blade lustrous, dark green abaxially, narrowly to broadly ovate, 8–16 × 3.5–9 cm, often with minute, whitish pubescence abaxially mostly on veins, with transparent trichomes, base cordate, margins entire, convex, apex long-acuminate; leaves on branches with oblong, smaller blade. Umbels numerous, axillary to leaves, 10–35-flowered, globose; peduncle equaling or shorter than subtending leaf. Flowers: perianth greenish; tepals 3.5–5 mm; anthers shorter than filaments, ovules (1–)2 per locule; pedicel 0.5–2.2 cm. Berries black, subglobose, 8–10 mm, not glaucous. 2n = 26.

Ark., Del., D.C., Ill., Ind., Ky., Md., Minn., Mo., Nebr., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Pa., Tenn., Va., W.Va.

Flowering Apr--Jun.

Rich woods, thickets, usually in calcareous soils; 0--900m.

Smilax herbacea Linnaeus var. pulverulenta (Michaux) A. Gray

Smilax pulverulenta, the downy carrionflower, is a North American species of plants native to the eastern and central United States. The plant is fairly common in the Ozarks, the Appalachians, and the Mid-Atlantic States, with isolated populations in Rhode Island, Minnesota, and Nebraska.

Smilax pulverulenta is a climbing vine up to 250 cm (100 inches) tall, without prickles. Flowers are small and green; fruits dark blue to black, without the waxy coating common on other species in the genus.