Smilax ornata

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Smilax ornata is a perennial trailing vine with prickly stems that is native to Mexico and Central America.<ref>Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families</ref> Common names include sarsaparilla,<ref name="GRIN">Template:GRIN</ref> Honduran sarsaparilla,<ref name="GRIN"/> and Jamaican sarsaparilla.<ref name="GRIN"/>

It is known in Spanish as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, which is derived from the words Template:Linktext meaning "bramble" (from Basque {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} "bramble"), and Template:Linktext, meaning "little grape vine".<ref>Sarsaparilla</ref><ref>Davidse, G. & al. (eds.) (1994). Flora Mesoamericana 6: 1–543. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F.</ref><ref>Balick, M.J., Nee, M.H. & Atha, D.E. (2000). Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Belize with Common Names an Uses: 1-246. New York Botanic Garden Press, New York.</ref><ref>Espejo Serena, A. & López-Ferrari, A.R. (2000). Las Monocotiledóneas Mexicanas una Sinopsis Florística 1(9-11): 1–337. Consejo Nacional de la Flora de México, México D.F.</ref><ref>Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.</ref>

Uses

Food

Smilax ornata is used as the basis for a soft drink known as sarsaparilla. It is also a primary ingredient in old fashioned-style licorice,<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Online">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in conjunction with sassafras,<ref name="era">Template:Cite book</ref> which was more widely available prior to studies of its potential health risks.Template:Citation needed

Traditional medicine

Smilax ornata was considered by Native Americans to have medicinal properties, and was a popular European treatment for syphilis when it was introduced from the New World.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> From 1820 to 1910, it was registered in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia as a treatment for syphilis.Template:Citation needed