Smilax bracteataC.Presl

WFO wfo-0000740766 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Smilax bracteata, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. a Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2021-07-17 / obs. 144039411
Smilax bracteata, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. b Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 127124948
Smilax bracteata, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. c Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 109534129
Smilax bracteata, photographed by Licheng Shih
fig. d Licheng Shih, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 60120930
Smilax bracteata, photographed by chiuluan
fig. e chiuluan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 110832536
Smilax bracteata, photographed by Takaaki Hattori
fig. f Takaaki Hattori, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 61203577
Smilax bracteata, photographed by 四角銅鑼
fig. g 四角銅鑼, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 194182769
Smilax bracteata, photographed by Lin Scott
fig. h Lin Scott, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 30882526

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 14 botanical countries

Regions where Smilax bracteata is native: China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Japan, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan, Cambodia, Laos, Malaya, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Caroline Is. China South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanJapanTaiwanCambodiaLaosMalayaMyanmarPhilippinesThailandVietnam Nansei-shotoCaroline Is.
Native distribution of Smilax bracteata, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Cambodia CBD ASIA-TROPICAL
Laos LAO
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
Philippines PHI
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Japan JAP
Nansei-shoto NNS
Taiwan TAI
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 9 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Smilax blancoi Kunth
  • Smilax bonii Gagnep.
  • Smilax bracteata var. barbata T.Koyama
  • Smilax divaricata Blanco
  • Smilax fistulosa Blanco
  • Smilax lyi H.Lév.
  • Smilax phyllantha Gagnep.
  • Smilax stenopetala A.Gray
  • Smilax trukensis Hosok.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.