Greenbriar
COMMON NAME: Greenbriar
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Smilax spp.
PRONOUNCED: SMIL-laks
TYPE: Perennial – Sun to shade
HEIGHT: High-climbing
SPREAD: 25 feet or more
HABIT: Flowers from February to June. Black berries in September and October. Woody vine with strong, thorny stems from large underground tubers. Leaves are tardily deciduous and sometimes white-blotched.
CULTURE: Grow without your help.
USES: Deer like it. The new tender growth is delicious in salads.
PROBLEMS: A weedy pest for most folks. Control by digging out the woody underground tubers.