Upright Carrionflower

Smilax ecirrhata is similar to S. huberi and S. biltmoreana, both with fewer leaves of different shapes.

Herbs. Stems annual, erect to leaning, with bladeless bracts proximally, leaves distally, 0.3–0.8 m, herbaceous; prickles absent. Leaves mostly distal (upper 1/2–2/3 of plant); petiole thin, shorter than blade; tendrils few and short or absent; blade thin, broadly elliptic-ovate to subrotund, 9–12 × 5–9 cm, pubescent and not glaucous abaxially, base cordate to truncate, margins entire, convex, apex round to acuminate. Umbels 1–3, proximalmost axillary to bracts below leaves, to 25-flowered, hemispherical to globose. Flowers: perianth green; tepals 3.5–4 mm; anthers ± equaling filaments; ovules (1–)2 per locule; pedicel 0.5–1.3 cm. Berries purplish black, globose, 9–11 mm, not glaucous. 2n = 52.

Ont.; Ark., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., Mich., Minn., Mo., Nebr., Ohio, Okla., S.Dak., Tenn., Wis.

Flowering May--Jun.

Open woods and thickets; 100--800m.

Coprosmanthus ecirrhatus (S. Watson) Chapman; C. herbaceus (Linnaeus) Kunth var. ecirratus Engelmann ex Kunth; Nemexia ecirrata (Engelmann ex Kunth) Small (as ecirrhata); Smilax herbacea Linnaeus var. ecirrata (Engelmann ex Kunth) A. de Candolle

Smilax ecirrhata, the upright carrionflower, is a species of flowering plant in the Greenbriar family. It is native to Ontario and to the central United States (Great Lakes Region and Mississippi/Ohio/Missouri Valley). It is found in rich, calcareous forests along floodplains. It is an herbaceous plant that has green umbels of flowers in late spring.