Smilax is a genus of about 300â350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. In China for example about 80 are found, while there are 20 in North America north of Mexico. They are climbing flowering plants, many of which are woody and/or thorny, in the monocotyledon family Smilacaceae, native throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world.
Common names include
catbriers,
greenbriers,
prickly-ivys and
smilaxes.
Sarsaparilla is a name used specifically for the Jamaican
S. ornata as well as a catch-all term in particular for American species. Occasionally, the non-woody species such as the smooth herbaceous greenbrier are separated as genus
Nemexia; they are commonly known by the rather ambiguous name
carrion flowers.