Smilax scobinicaulis C. H. Wright

Vines climbing. Stem branched, terete, 1--2 m, ± woody; stem and branches sparsely prickly, rarely scarcely so; prickles blackish, needlelike, 4--5 mm. Petiole 0.5--1.5 cm, narrowly winged for ca. 1/2 its length; abscission zone distal; tendrils well developed. Leaf blade sometimes becoming blackish when dried, ovate to elliptic-ovate, 4--12.5 × 2.5--8 cm, herbaceous. Inflorescence of 1 umbel, basally not prophyllate; peduncle rather short, usually less than 1/2 as long as petiole; umbels of both sexes 3--8-flowered, base not thickened. Male flowers: tepals yellowish green, 4--5 × 1--1.8 mm; stamens 2--3 mm. Female flowers: tepals slightly smaller than male ones; staminodes 3. Berries blue-black, globose, 6--9 mm in diam. Fl. May, fr. Oct.

Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Yunnan.

* Forests, thickets, shaded places on slopes; 600--1200 m.

Smilax brevipes Warburg; S. cavaleriei H. Léveillé & Vaniot; S. martini H. Léveillé & Vaniot; S. microphylla C. H. Wright var. nigrescens Warburg; S. ocreata H. Léveillé & Vaniot (1905), not A. de Candolle (1878); S. scobinicaulis var. brevipes (Warburg) Handel-Mazzetti; S. sieboldii Miquel var. scobinicaulis (C. H. Wright) T. Koyama.