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Smilax china

Common name:	China Root	Family:	Smilacaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	11, 200, 266
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - China, Japan.
Habitat:	Shrub thickets[147] in hills and mountains[58]. Forests, thickets, hillsides, grassy slopes, shaded places along valleys or streams from near sea level to 2000 metres[266].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	5	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	3

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Coprosmanthus japonicus[H] S. ferox[H] S. japonica[H]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Akar Restong [E], Ba Qia [E], Chin Kang Ken [E], China [E,H], China Root [E,H,P], China Smilax [H], Chinaroot [E], Chinawurzel [E], Gadong China [E], Gadong Saberang [E], Kinawortel [E], Pa Ch'Ia [E], Sarsaparilla [E], Saru-Tori-Ibara [E], Smilace [E], Squine [E], T'Ieh Ling Chio [E], Ubat Raja [E], Wang Kua Ts'Ao [E], Zarzaparilla [E],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Liliales. Catbrier family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Britain; China; Egypt; Europe; France; Germany; India; Iran; Italy; Malaya; Netherlands; Spain

Physical Characteristics

A decidious climber growing to 4.5m. It is hardy to zone 6. It is in flower in May, and the seeds ripen in October. The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required). The plant not is self-fertile. We rate it 5/5 for edibility and 3/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Fruit; Leaves; Root; Rutin; Tea.

Root - cooked[4, 105, 177]. Rich in starch[2], the large and fleshy roots can be dried and ground into a powder[11]. The root is harvested by severing larger roots near the crown and leaving the smaller roots to grow on[238].
Young shoots and leaves - raw or cooked[105, 159, 177, 179]. Used as a potherb[183]. The leaves are said to contain rutin, but no details of quantity were given[218].
Fruit - raw. Eaten to quench the thirst[105, 177, 183]. The fruit is about 9mm in diameter[200].
A tea is made from the leaves[177, 179, 183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Alterative; Antiscrophulatic; Carminative; Depurative; Diaphoretic; Diuretic; Skin; Tonic; VD.

The root is alterative, antiscrophulatic, carminative, depurative, diaphoretic, diuretic and tonic[1, 4, 11, 147, 174, 178, 218]. It is considered useful when taken internally in the treatment of old syphilitic cases and is also used for certain skin diseases, including psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, enteritis, urinary tract infections, skin ulcers etc[4, 238]. Large doses can cause nausea and vomiting, which is valuable in weakened and depraved conditions due to a poisoned state of the blood[4]. The root is harvested in the autumn and dried for later use.

Other Uses

Dye.

A yellow dye is made from the root and leaves when alum is used as a mordant[4, 178]. With iron sulphate, the colour is brown[4].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in most well-drained soils in sun or semi-shade[200].
Hardy to about -15°c[200].
A climbing plant, supporting itself by means of tendrils and thorns as it scrambles through small trees and shrubs.
A young plant is growing and thriving close to a west-facing wall at Kew Botanical gardens[K].
This species is not the true 'China root' of medicine, see the record for S. pseudo-china[178].
Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.

Propagation

Seed - sow March in a warm greenhouse[1]. This note probably refers to the tropical members of the genus, seeds of plants from cooler areas seem to require a period of cold stratification, some species taking 2 or more years to germinate[K]. We sow the seed of temperate species in a cold frame as soon as we receive it, and would sow the seed as soon as it is ripe if we could obtain it then[K]. When the seedlings eventually germinate, prick them out into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first year, though we normally grow them on in pots for 2 years. Plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer.
Division in early spring as new growth begins[238]. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found it best to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in a lightly shaded position in a cold frame, planting them out once they are well established in the summer.
Cuttings of half-ripe shoots, July in a frame[238].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for smilax china (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[58] Ohwi. G. Flora of Japan. (English translation) Smithsonian Institution 1965
The standard work. Brilliant, but not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[147] ? A Barefoot Doctors Manual. Running Press ISBN 0-914294-92-X
A very readable herbal from China, combining some modern methods with traditional chinese methods.

[159] McPherson. A. and S. Wild Food Plants of Indiana. Indiana University Press 1977 ISBN 0-253-28925-4
A nice pocket guide to this region of America.

[174] Kariyone. T. Atlas of Medicinal Plants.
A good Japanese herbal.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[178] Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre
A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.

[179] Reid. B. E. Famine Foods of the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre 1977
A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[266] Flora of China 1994
On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

Readers Comments

Smilax china

maria bodner (maria.bodner@bnmsp.de) Sat Apr 19 13:31:19 2003

I would be interested in some tubers or seed of Smilax china (I could not find some in Germany)and of Apios americana. Please tell me if it´s available and how I can pay (sent Euros in a letter?) I find your database very useful and I am searching and learning quite a lot (I´m working on a farm (organic) and we just start looking for more perennial plants)

My Adress: Maria Bodner Neubergstr. 24 D-97450 Arnstein E-Mail:maria.bodner@bnmsp.de

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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