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Sweet sarsaparilla, a dioecious climbing vine from eastern Australia that grows in rainforest edges, woodland and coastal forest. It climbs with coiling tendrils and is grown for its sweet-tasting leaves and edible berries.
Smilax glyciphylla, the sweet sarsaparilla, is a dioecious climber native to eastern Australia. It is widespread in rainforest, sclerophyll forest and woodland; mainly in coastal regions.
The leaves are distinctly three-veined with a glaucous under-surface, lanceolate, 4–10 cm long by 1.5–4 cm wide. Coiling tendrils are up to 8 cm long. The globose berries are 5–8 mm in diameter, black with a singular seed.
The fruit is edible. The sweet flavoured leaves are used medicinally by Indigenous people and non-Indigenous colonists, including as a tea substitute.
Sarsaparilla · Austral Sarsaparilla · Chinese Smilax · Laurel greenbrier · Smilax moranensis · Smilax officinalis · Jamaica sarsaparilla · Roundleaf greenbrier · Greenbrier
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Smilax glyciphylla by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
