Smilax species — the thorny greenbrier vine whose root and tender spring shoots were used for tonics, root-beer-style drinks, and 'blood purifying' teas. The young red shoots are also edible like asparagus.
Sarsaparilla is the safer partner to sassafras in the Southern tonic tradition — the greenbrier vine in the fence row that yielded a spring drink and a skin-and-joint remedy. The edible spring shoots also made it a free wild vegetable, another thread in the survival-foraging fabric of rural Black life.
Sarsaparilla root carries steroidal saponins long used in folk medicine as a 'blood purifier' and a remedy for skin conditions and joint inflammation. Historically it was a base flavor for tonic drinks and was paired with sassafras in old root-beer recipes (and was safer, lacking safrole). The young red spring shoots are crisp and edible like wild asparagus, delivering vitamin C; the starchy root was even pounded for a wild drink and food source in hard times.
Dig the root in fall or spring and simmer into a tonic decoction, sweetened with a little cane syrup or honey. Snap the tender red spring shoots before they harden and eat raw or lightly cooked like asparagus. The mature vine is woody and thorny — only the new growth is tender.
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