Smilax china explained

Smilax china is a climbing plant species in the genus Smilax. It is native to China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan (including Ryukyu and Bonin Islands), Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, and India.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]} It also known as china root, china-root, or chinaroot, as is the related Smilax glabra.

Description

The stem is woody, sparsely prickly, and 1m-5mm (03feet-16feetm) long. Petiole is 0.5cm-1.5cmcm (00.2inches-00.6inchescm) long; leaf blade is elliptic to orbicular, 3cm-10cmcm (01inches-00inchescm) long and 1.5cm-6cmcm (00.6inches-02inchescm) wide, sometimes wider. Berries are red, globose, and 0.6cm-1.5cmcm (00.2inches-00.6inchescm) in diameter.^[2]

Kaempferol 7-O-glucoside, a flavonol glucoside, can be found in S. china.^[9]

Habitat

In China, S. china occurs in forests, thickets, hillsides, grassy slopes, and shaded places along valleys or streams. It is found from near sea level to 2000m (7,000feet).^[2]

Notes and References

1. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=288437 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
2. Web site: Smilax china Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1029. 1753 菝葜 ba qia . Chen Xinqi (陈心启 Chen Sing-chi) . Tetsuo Koyama . Flora of China . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA . 17 May 2015.
3. Merrill, E.D. (1922). An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants 1(2): 129-240. Bureau of Science, Manila.
4. Smitinand, T. & Larsen, K. (eds.) (1975). Flora of Thailand 2: 1-484. The Forest Herbarium, National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok.
5. Leroy, J.-F. (ed.) (1983). Flore du Cambodge du Laos et du Viêt-Nam 20: 1-175. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.
6. Ohwi, J. (1984). Flora of Japan (in English): 1-1067. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
7. Kress, W.J., DeFilipps, R.A., Farr, E. & Kyi, D.Y.Y. (2003). A Checklist of the Trees, Shrubs, Herbs and Climbers of Myanmar. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45: 1-590.
8. Baruah, S., Borthakur, S.K., Gogoi, P. & Ahmed, M. (2011). New distributional record of Smilax china Linnaeus (Smilacaceae) in India. Pleione 5: 328-330.
9. Xu . W. . Liu . J. . Li . C. . Wu . H. Z. . Liu . Y. W. . Kaempferol-7-O-β-d-glucoside (KG) isolated from Smilax china L. rhizome induces G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis on HeLa cells in a p53-independent manner . 10.1016/j.canlet.2008.01.044 . Cancer Letters . 264 . 2 . 229–240 . 2008 . 18343026.