ABSTRACT
The roots of several woody climbing plants native to Central and South America constitute the drug sarsaparilla. All of them are species of the genus Smilax, belonging to the family Smilacaceae. Included are S. aristolochiaefolia Miller, known as Mexican sarsaparilla, S. regelii Killip and Morton, commonly referred to as Honduran sarsaparilla, S. febrifuga Kunth, or Ecuadorian sarsaparilla, as well as other undetermined species of Smilax.1
