Japanese name: タチシオデ（立牛尾菜） Scientific name:Smilax nipponica
[Overview]
A climbing perennial found in hills and fields, though the stem at first stands upright.
It has a thick underground stem.
The stem twines around other objects with tendrils, but dies back in winter together with the leaves.
There are no thorns.
Leaves are simple and alternate, elliptic, 4–20 cm long, not glossy, and thin.
The underside of the leaf is tinged with a powdery white.
There are tendrils at the base of the petiole.
It is dioecious.
Both male and female flowers are borne in large numbers in umbels arising from the leaf axils.
The inflorescence has a long stalk.
Both male and female flowers are yellowish-green with 6 tepals, and the tepals do not curve backward.
The fruit is a spherical berry, ripening black and tinged with a powdery white.
[Uses]
Young stems and new shoots are eaten as wild vegetables.
The roots and rhizome are used medicinally.
