| 释义 |
smilax Bot.|ˈsmaɪlæks|
[a. L. smīlax (Pliny), a. Gr. σµῖλαξ bindweed, etc.]
1. A large genus of liliaceous plants typical of the order Smilaceæ, or a species of this genus, the tuberous rootstocks of which constitute the sarsaparilla of commerce.
In earlier writers, as Morwyng (1559) and Turner (1562), smilax is used in other senses of the L. and Gr. word, after passages in Pliny or Dioscorides.
1601Holland Pliny II. 190 Some haue said that Smilax is of 2 sorts: the one..climbing trees, & tufted in the head with clusters..of berries. c1610Fairfax Eclogues iv. xv, Bay, Smilax, Myrtle..Grew there. 1671Salmon Syn. Med. iii. xxii. 432 Smilax,..Bindweed; it opens the belly, dissolves hard swellings. 1710W. King Heathen Gods & Heroes xxvii. (1722) 134 The Ivy, the Smilax, or Ropeweed,..were the Vegetables that he [Bacchus] delighted in. 1817J. Bradbury Trav. Amer. 30 There was also an abundance of small prickly vines entwined among the bushes, of a species of smilax. 1839Audubon Ornith. Biog. I. 302 The Green Briar, or Round-leaved Smilax,..is common along fences. 1874Coues Birds N.W. 162 The ravines overgrown with smilax and brambles.
attrib.1899F. V. Kirby Sport E.C. Africa xi. 124 A mass of thorny shrubs woven into an almost solid block by a growth of convolvulus creepers and of the twining smilax yam.
2. A climbing species of asparagus, Myrsiphylium asparagoides, much used for decorative purposes.
1870Daily News 13 June, The sprays of smilax, the roses and violets, bloomed from baskets in the windows. 1887The Lady 20 Jan. 38/3 A large square of pink plush was outlined against the white damask, with a broad, graceful border of smilax. |