Family |
Smilacaceae
Smilax aspera
L.
Smilax aspera L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 1028 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, pp. 288–289, Pl. XCIV, 3; 1966)
• Life-form & habit: Evergreen, hairless woody climber with a thick, branched rhizome. Slender, angular, often zigzag stems climb or trail for 10–15 m through trees or over rocks; prickles vary from numerous to absent.
• Leaves: Leathery, heart-shaped to triangular or arrow-shaped, reaching about 11 × 10 cm. Margins and lower veins may be prickly. Leaf stalks carry a pair of tendrils.
• Inflorescence & flowers: White flowers in umbrella-like clusters of 5–25, arranged in terminal and axillary racemes with flexuous axes.
• Fruit: Red berry, 8–10 mm across, containing three seeds.
• Phenology: Flowering August–November.
• Habitat & elevation: Hedges, woodland and rocks.
• Lebanese distribution: Near Saida, Nahr Ghadir, Beirut, Nahr el Kalb, Nahr Ibrahim, Tripoli, Koura plain, Chemlan, Deir el Qamar, Baabda, Jamhour, Kahale, Qrayye, Broummana, Aley, Feitroun, below Bhamdoun, Bikfaya, Kfertay and Qornet Chehwan.
• Syrian distribution: Tartous, Safita, Jabal Aqra, Kizil Dagh, Ain Haramiye, Wadi Qandil, Slenfe, Jabal Semaane and Salkine.
• Native range: Albania, Algeria, Assam, Azores, Baleares, Bangladesh, Canary Is., China South-Central, Corse, Cyprus, DR Congo, East Aegean Is., East Himalaya, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Kenya, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, NW. Balkan Pen., Pakistan, Palestine, Portugal, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Tibet, Tunisia, Türkiye, Uganda, West Himalaya, Zambia.