Smilax glabra, the Chinaroot, tufuling (土茯苓) or sarsaparilla,Sarsaparilla on rain-tree.com is a plant species in the genus Smilax. It is native to China, the Himalayas, and Indochina.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant FamiliesSmitinand, T. & Larsen, K. (eds.) (1975). Flora of Thailand 2: 1-484. The Forest Herbarium, National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok.Leroy, J.-F. (ed.) (1983). Flore du Cambodge du Laos et du Viêt-Nam 20: 1-175. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.Ahmed, Z.U. (ed.) (2008). Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh 12: 1-505. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.Leti, M., Hul, S., Fouché, J.-G., Cheng, S.K. & David, B. (2013). Flore photographique du Cambodge: 1-589. Éditions Privat, Toulouse. Smilax glabra is used in Chinese herbology. It is also a key ingredient in the Chinese medical dessert guīlínggāo, which makes use of its property to set certain kinds of jelly.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Compounds documented for Smilax glabra across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Smilax glabra has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens6
Marker genes4
GenBank sequences8
eDNA detections3
Countries2
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
Smilax glabra voucher REC658 internal transcribed spacer 2 and large subunit ribosomal RNA gene, partial sequence
Marker genes sequenced
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK1★rbcL4★ITS3★ITS2
plant barcodefungal barcode
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type1 980 records
Wild obs. + sensor167
Museum / vouchered1 809
Cultivated / captive1
Other3
Origin
Native6
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO2 384 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy86% within 1 km
≤100 m 62≤1 km 19≤10 km 7>10 km 6
94 georeferenced · 73 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor167
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy50% within 1 km
≤100 m 4≤1 km 2≤10 km 4>10 km 2
12 georeferenced · 1 797 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence1 809
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Coordinate accuracy
no georeferenced coordinates · 1 records without
Open the mapnot free-living1
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions36 of 65 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Beijing, CN
408
Guangzhou, CN
379
Yangling, CN
141
Chengdu, CN
140
Guilin, CN
101
Central China Normal Universitylocation not on record
64
Guangzhou, CN
60
Wuhan, CN
47
Institute for Agricultural Bacteriology and Fermentation Biologylocation not on record
41
Chengdu, CN
38
Hangzhou, CN
37
Nanjing, CN
26
Taipei, TW
24
Shanghai, CN
24
Seoul, KR
21
Changsha, CN
20
Taipei, TW
18
Bronx, US
16
FJIDClocation not on record
14
Shanghai, CN
12
Zhejiang Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record
11
Jishou Universitylocation not on record
8
nlocation not on record
8
FJFClocation not on record
8
Xiamen, CN
8
Kew, GB
8
Yunnan Universitylocation not on record
7
Wuhan, CN
7
TAIElocation not on record
6
Zhejiang Universitylocation not on record
6
Awka, NG
6
Strecker Museum, Baylor Universitylocation not on record
6
Ischia Marine Centrelocation not on record
6
Chengdu, CN
5
South China Normal Universitylocation not on record
5
Zhuzhou, CN
5
Edinburgh, GB
4
Taipei, TW
4
Beijing, CN
4
Saint Louis, US
3
WNNUlocation not on record
3
Jiangxi College of Traditional Chinese Medicinelocation not on record
3
Xian, CN
2
LDlocation not on record
2
Herbarium of South China Botanical Gardenlocation not on record
2
Zhengzhou, CN
2
Lanzhou, CN
2
Moscow State Universitylocation not on record
2
Fujian Institute of Subtropical Botanylocation not on record
2
黔东南州民族医药研究所标本室location not on record
2
“Manash Kozybayev North Kazakhstan University" NPLClocation not on record
1
Paris, FR
1
Nanjing, CN
1
Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST)location not on record
1
Guangxi Institute of Traditional Medical and Pharmaceutical Scienceslocation not on record
1
Chongqing Natural History Museumlocation not on record
1
Jinghong, CN
1
Hangzhou Normal Collegelocation not on record
1
Servico de Microbiologia e Imunologialocation not on record
1
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
1
GZUlocation not on record
1
Kunming, CN
1
South Kensington, GB
1
SXTCMlocation not on record
1
Columbia, US
1
65 institutions · 1 793 of 1 809 vouchered records shown · 16 without an institution code
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
09Environmental DNA3 detections
Where the DNA of Smilax glabra was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found3
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 3 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
Hillsides
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median23.8 °C 23.0–24.6
Seasonal swing summer↔winter19.0 °C
Max temp (day)26.7 °C 25.5–27.8
Min temp (night)20.8 °C
Precipitation268 mm/mo 254–281
Air humidity67.0 % 65.5–68.6
Moisture balance139 mm/mo 122–157
Vapour deficit978 Pa 889–1,068
Wind speed2.80 m/s 2.00–3.50
Cloud cover50.1 % 43.1–57.2
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 2 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation7 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility1 980 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI3 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics6 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗