Smilacina amplexicaulis Nuttall, J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadephia 7: 58. 1834; Unifolium amplexicaule (Nuttall) Greene; Vagnera amplexicaulis (Nuttall) Greene; V. pallescens Greene

Stems erect. Leaves sessile, clasping; blade base rounded; apex of third leaf below inflorescence acute, shorter than 2 mm.

Flowering mid spring; fruiting early summer--autumn. Deciduous woodlands, persisting along shaded roadsides and urban and suburban wooded tracts; 0--700 m; Alta., B.C., N.W.T., Sask.; Alaska, Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nev., N.Mex., N.Dak., Oreg., S.Dak., Tex., Utah, Wash., Wyo.; n Mexico.