Smilax chinaL.

China root

WFO wfo-0000740545 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Smilax china, photographed by 古淑玲
fig. a 古淑玲, CC0 1.0 / 2022-04-30 / obs. 192103465
Smilax china, photographed by 葉子
fig. b 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 190267442
Smilax china, photographed by 葉子
fig. c 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 190246514
Smilax china, photographed by 葉子
fig. d 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 190246803
Smilax china, photographed by 葉子
fig. e 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 190250177
Smilax china, photographed by 四角銅鑼
fig. f 四角銅鑼, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 177938275
Smilax china, photographed by chiuluan
fig. g chiuluan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 176350657
Smilax china, photographed by chiuluan
fig. h chiuluan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 176350551

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 13 botanical countries

Regions where Smilax china is native: China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Japan, Korea, Nansei-shoto, Ogasawara-shoto, Taiwan, Assam, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam China North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastJapanTaiwanAssamMyanmarPhilippinesThailandVietnam KoreaNansei-shoto
Native distribution of Smilax china, 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
China North-Central CHN ASIA-TEMPERATE
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Japan JAP
Korea KOR
Nansei-shoto NNS
Ogasawara-shoto OGA
Taiwan TAI
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Myanmar MYA
Philippines PHI
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE

Not drawn on the map: Ogasawara-shoto. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

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 27 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.

  • Coprosmanthus japonicus Kunth
  • Smilax boninensis Nakai ex Tuyama
  • Smilax boninensis Nakai
  • Smilax china f. china
  • Smilax china f. gigantifolia (Sasam.) T.Koyama
  • Smilax china f. igaensis (Masam. & Kurok.) T.Koyama
  • Smilax china f. obtusa H.Lév.
  • Smilax china f. pruniformis (Honda) Sugim.
  • Smilax china f. variegata Hir.Takah.
  • Smilax china f. xanthocarpa Sugim.
  • Smilax china f. yanagitae (Honda) T.Koyama
  • Smilax china var. gigantifolia Sasam.
  • Smilax china var. igaensis Masam. & Kurok.
  • Smilax china var. macrocarpa Honda
  • Smilax china var. microphylla Nakai
  • Smilax china var. pruniformis Honda
  • Smilax china var. recticaulis T.Koyama
  • Smilax china var. straminea F.P.Metcalf
  • Smilax china var. taiheiensis (Hayata) T.Koyama
  • Smilax china var. yakushimensis Masam.
  • Smilax china var. yanagitae Honda
  • Smilax china var. yanagitai Honda
  • Smilax japonica (Kunth) A.Gray
  • Smilax pteropus Miq.

and 3 more.

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. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. 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.