"Smilax smallii grows with a cluster of Dahlia like swollen roots at the base
of the plant (these roots look like bananas).

Tamus communis I know only from reading about it. "

I have Tamus communis all around my front door in lieu of a rose.

If anyone is brave enough to plant this be sure to get only the male form as the female will seed everywhere.

A female has crept in alongside and will be pretty when in fruit but oh the seedlings!
It is an interesting and beautiful plant none the less, a relict from preglacial times persisting in europe probably via birds disseminating the seeds.

I also grow Dioscorea japonica which is even more vigourous.Seed was obtained from North Green Seeds in England.
It has just shot up 3 meters in a few weeks from an established plant.It was supposed to have wonderful marbled foliage...No score there!
The rootstock is a wandering fleshy affair.When grown in a pot it escaped through the base and rooted out into the gravel drive underneath.
Can anyone tell me what Smilax would be found by the bulgarian frontier in Turkey?