Smilax aspera

On their own, Smilax plants will grow as shrubs, forming dense impenetrable thickets. They will also grow over trees and other plants up to 10 m high, their hooked thorns allowing them to hang onto and scramble over branches. The genus includes both deciduous and evergreen species. The leaves are heart-shaped and vary from 4-30 cm long in different species.

An extract from the roots of some species – most significantly Jamaican Sarsaparilla (S. regelii) – is used to make the sarsaparilla drink and other root beers, as well as herbal drinks like the popular Baba Roots from Jamaica. The roots may also be used in soups or stews. The young shoots can be eaten raw or cooked and are said to taste like asparagus, and the berries can be eaten both raw and cooked.


It is also a key ingredient in the Chinese medical dessert guīlínggāo, which makes use of its property to set certain kinds of jelly.

The powdered roots of Jamaican Sarsaparilla are known as Rad. Sarzae. Jam. in pharmacy and are used medicinally as a cure for gout in Latin American countries. Jamaican Sarsaparilla contains at least four phytosterols of the progesterone class, and is therefore recommended by herbalists as a remedy for the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. It appears to be most effective at alleviating these symptoms in premenopausal women over the age of 35. Smilax preparations, for example of S. china, are also commonly used in herbalism to treat certain skin diseases which are caused or aggravated by hormonal imbalance, such as psoriasis and seborrhoeic dermatitis. Köhler's Medicinal Plants of 1887 discusses the American Sarsaparilla (S. aristolochiifolia), but as early as about 1590, the Persian scholar Imad al-Din Mahmud ibn Mas'ud Shirazi gave a detailed evaluation of the medical properties of Chinaroot, especially its use against syphilis.