Smilax herbacea L.
Smooth carrion flower, carrion vine, herbaceous carrion flower, smooth herbaceous greenbrier
Smooth carrion flowers are North American natives.
Plants: Smooth carrion flower has a number of striking characteristics, so you aren’t likely to confuse it with other plants. It is a vine, up to 10′ (3 m) long, with curling tendrils that grasp nearby plants. It has a smooth, pale green stem; most vines have woody stems.
Leaves: Egg-shaped alternate leaves up to 3½″ (8.9 cm) long, with smooth edges and shiny surfaces.
Flowers: Flowers are arranged in ball-shaped clusters. The individual 6-petalled flowers are ½″ (1.3 cm) across, and green. Usually flowers stand out, so green is a very uncommon color, but these flowers have another way of attracting their pollinators: they smell like carrion. Female flower clusters form tight green balls; while male clusters are looser, the individual flowers a bit spider-like in appearance, with tiny white stamens.
Fruits: Tight round balls of dark blue berries, each berry about ⅜″ (1 cm) in diameter.
Habitats: River or stream floodplains, forests, meadows and fields, shores of rivers or lakes, swamps, wetland margins.
Edibility: The leaves and young shoots may be eaten raw or boiled for 15 minutes like asparagus. The roots, properly processed, yield a gelatin-like extract.
Online References:
References:
Nemexia herbacea (L.) Small
6/4/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm) 
6/1/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm) 
5/29/2010 · Maine Audubon Gilsland Farm Audubon Center, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 11 × 16″ (27 × 41 cm) 
5/29/2010 · Maine Audubon Gilsland Farm Audubon Center, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 7 × 11″ (18 × 27 cm) 
5/15/1979 · Virginia · By Tim Chandler 
5/29/2010 · Maine Audubon Gilsland Farm Audubon Center, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 7 × 9″ (18 × 22 cm) 
6/1/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm) 
6/1/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 15 × 10″ (39 × 26 cm) 
5/15/1979 · Virginia · By Tim Chandler 
6/4/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 6″ (19 × 15 cm) 
5/29/2010 · Maine Audubon Gilsland Farm Audubon Center, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 9 × 14″ (23 × 35 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Liliopsida | Monocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family |
| Subclass | Liliidae | Includes lilies, orchids, and many others |
| Order | Liliales | Includes lilies, tulips, trilliums, greenbriars, and others |
| Family | Smilacaceae | Greenbriar family |
| Genus | Smilax | Greek for “clasping” |
| Species | herbacea | “Herbaceous,” vs. woody |
Smilax herbacea description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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