Vines; rhizomes slender, running. Stems perennial, climbing to clambering, branching, slender, 2-6 m, woody, glabrous; prickles scattered, subulate. Leaves deciduous to semievergreen; petiole 0.5-1 cm; blade abaxially green, drying to lightly orange-tinted brown, ovate-oblong, to ovate-lanceolate, with 3 prominent veins, thin, 6-10 × 3-7 cm, glabrous or minutely pubescent abaxially, not glaucous, base rounded, subcordate, or, sometimes, cuneate at petiole insertion, margins entire, apex acute, mucronate. Umbels few to many, axillary to leaves, few-flowered, loose, hemispherical; peduncle 0.5-2 cm, generally shorter than petiole of subtending leaf. Flowers: perianth brownish yellow; tepals 3-6 mm; ovule 1 per locule; pedicel 0.5-1 cm. Berries bright red to orange, globose, 7-9 mm, shining. Flowering Apr--Jun. Wet thickets, low pinelands, swamps, boggy areas; 0--350 m; Ala., Ark., Del., Fla., Ga., La., Md., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tex., Va. The brightly colored fruits make Smilax walteri conspicuous in the winter.