Zarsaparilla (Smilax) Exploitation in Honduras: Research to Estimate Plants Needed for 1857 Export Amounts

Smilax has a long history of use in both hemispheres. Traditional New World uses were overshadowed in the mid-1800s by the demand for Smilax to treat syphilis. Wells recorded that about 22,700 kg of zarsaparilla rhizomes were exported from Honduras in 1857, but the species and number of plants exported were not known.  Our research objective was to conduct field work to estimate the number of Smilax plants needed to obtain this export amount.  In Honduras (July, 2012) we excavated the rhizomes of 4 individual plants from 3 Smilax species. The rhizome dry-weights for 1 S. febrifuga (cuculmeca blanca), 1 S. officinalis (zarsaparilla), and 2 Smilax domingensis (cuculmeca) plants were, respectively, 3.00, 0.52, 2.32 and 25.49 kg.  Doctoral work on Smilax by co-author Ferrufino (2010) enabled accurate identifications. Rhizome amounts varied with species and among individuals, but 1-8 thousand plants were estimated as needed to obtain 1857 export amounts.