186 



THE VINES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



1. Common Bamboo or Green Brier. (Smilax 

 rotundifolia, Linn.)— Very common in all the Dis- 

 tricts, generally in thickets where the soil is rather 

 fertile, 20 to 40 feet long, the stems and branches of a 

 yellowish-green color, round, and armed with strong 

 prickles, the branchlets slightly angled. The leaves 

 are deciduous, 3 or 4 inches long, roundish and heart- 

 shaped. The berries, as in most of the species, are 

 bluish-black, borne in bunches upon a common stalk 

 in the fork of the leaves, and which is about the 

 same length with the leaf-stalk. 



2. (S. tamnoides, Linn.)— A stout prickly vine 

 with angled branchlets, occurring in the Lower and 

 Middle Districts. The leaves are somewhat fiddle- 

 shaped or contracted in the middle, the base some- 

 times spreading into rounded projections. The gen- 

 eral fruit-stalk is a little flattened, about 1J inch 

 long, and twice the length of the leaf-stalk. 



3. China Root. (S. Pseudo-China, Linn.)— Stout 

 and prickly like No. 2, 10 to 15 feet long, the 

 branches roundish and not prickly, and the roots 

 tuberous. The leaves are large, 4 to 7 inches long, 

 ovate, green both sides, the edges and nerves on the 

 underside roughened with minute prickles. The gen- 

 eral fruit-stalk is flat and 2 or 3 inches long. The 

 berries are blackish and larger than in the preceding 

 species. 



4. Sarsaparilla. (S. glauca, Walt.)— Not un- 

 common in all the Districts in cultivated grounds 

 near streams. The stems are prickly and 2 to 4 feet 



