Schisandra glabra (Brickell) Rehder

Bay Starvine; Climbing Magnolia; Magnolia Vine

Vine

Perennial

Vascular

Bay Starvine is a native perennial woody vine in the Starvine family (Schisandraceae). It can be found at scattered locations in the southern half of Alabama. Bay Starvine grows in rich deciduous woods, along streams, and in hardwood ravines. It is a vine up to 60 feet in length. It grows sprawling on the ground, hanging from stream banks, or climbing by twining on other vegetation. The bark is light tan-gray in color and flakey. Leaves are alternate, deciduous, petiolate, elliptic to cordate in outline, entire or remotely toothed, and glabrous. The leaves are widely spaced on fast growing shoots and crowed at the ends of slower growing shoots. Flowers are solitary and pendant on long peduncles from the axils of the leaves. Flowers are unisexual with staminate and pistillate flowers occurring on the same plant. Each flower has 9-12 tepals. The outer tepals are greenish in color and the inner ones are red. The male flowers have the anthers embedded in a 5-sided disc. Female flowers have 6-12 pistils. The fruit is a 1-3 seeded red globose berry. Bay Starvine is listed as an S2 species in Alabama (typically 6 to 20 occurrences or factors demonstrably making it very vulnerable in the state) and globally as a G3 species (imperiled globally because of rarity or very vulnerable to extinction throughout its range because of other factors).—A. Diamond

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Native S2 (State Rank) G3 (Global Rank)

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