Smilax

Smilax
Mediterranean smilax (S. aspera) in fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Liliales
Family:	Smilacaceae
Genus:	Smilax L.
Type species
Smilax aspera L.
Species
About 300–350 (see list)
Synonyms[1]
Nemexia Raf. Parillax Raf. Aniketon Raf. Dilax Raf. Coprosmanthus Kunth Pleiosmilax Seem. Sarsaparilla Kuntze

Smilax is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide.^[1] 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 (also zarzaparrilla, sarsparilla) is a name used specifically for the Neotropical 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 (S. herbacea) are separated as genus Nemexia; they are commonly known by the rather ambiguous name carrion flowers.

Greenbriers get their scientific name from the Greek myth of Crocus and the nymph Smilax.^[2] Though this myth has numerous forms, it always centers around the unfulfilled and tragic love of a mortal man who is turned into a flower, and a woodland nymph who is transformed into a brambly vine.