サルトリイバラ科シオデ属の落葉蔓性木本で、学名は Smilax china。英名は China root。
The China root (Smilax china) belongs to Smilacaceae (the Catbrier family). It is a deciduous woody vine that is native to Japan, as well as Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, China and Southeast Asia. This vine grows in fields or forest edges, and climbs up adjacent trees by tendrils and hooked spines. The leaves are round to elliptic and alternate. The umbels are borne on the axiles and the pale yellowish green flowers bloom from April to May. The fruits are berries, ripen in vermillion-red from October to November and edible. The roots are used as a herbal medicine for blotch or lump. In Taiwanese Chinese, it is called "菝契" and "菝契" (ba qia).