| Smilacaceae Temporal range: Early Paleogene - Recent
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| Smilax aristolochiifolia[2] | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Liliales |
| Family: | Smilacaceae Vent.[1] |
| Genera | |
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Smilacaceae, the greenbriers, is a family of flowering plants. While they were often assigned to a more broadly defined family Liliaceae, most recent botanists have accepted the two as distinct families, diverging around 55 million years ago during the Early Paleogene. One characteristic that distinguishes Smilacaceae from most of the other members of the Liliaceae-like Liliales is that it has true vessels in its conducting tissue. Another is that the veins of the leaves, between major veins, are reticulate (net-shaped), rather than parallel as in most monocots.[3]
- ^ Stevens, P. F. (2001–2012). "Smilacaceae". Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ^ 1897 illustration from Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen
- ^ Holmes, Walter C. (2002). "Smilacaceae". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2008-01-14 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.