Coprosmanthus herbaceus (Linnaeus) Kunth var. ecirratus Engelmann ex Kunth, Enum. Pl. 5: 266. 1850; C. ecirratus (Engelmann ex Kunth) Chapman; Nemexia ecirrata (Engelmann ex Kunth) Small; Smilax herbacea Linnaeus var. ecirrata (Engelmann ex Kunth) A. de Candolle

Herbs. Stems annual, erect to leaning, with bladeless bracts proximally, leaves distally, 0.3–0.8 m, herbaceous; prickles absent. Leaves mostly distal (upper 1/2–2/3 of plant); petiole thin, shorter than blade; tendrils few and short or absent; blade thin, broadly elliptic-ovate to subrotund, 9–12 × 5–9 cm, pubescent and not glaucous abaxially, base cordate to truncate, margins entire, convex, apex round to acuminate. Umbels 1–3, proximalmost axillary to bracts below leaves, to 25-flowered, hemispherical to globose. Flowers: perianth green; tepals 3.5–4 mm; anthers ± equaling filaments; ovules (1–)2 per locule; pedicel 0.5–1.3 cm. Berries purplish black, globose, 9–11 mm, not glaucous. 2n = 52.

Flowering May--Jun. Open woods and thickets; 100--800 m; Ont.; Ark., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., Mich., Minn., Mo., Nebr., Ohio, Okla., S.Dak., Tenn., Wis.

Smilax ecirrhata is similar to S. huberi and S. biltmoreana, both with fewer leaves of different shapes.