FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Very leathery leaves oblong and usually pointing upward, with prominent midrib vein on leaf undersides. Older stems can be very thick and strong.
Description: Robust, evergreen, woody vine with thorns, forming dense thickets in wet areas.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, narrowly oblong, thick, leathery leaves up to 10 to 15 cm long and 5 cm wide. Leaves usually pointing upward and may appear mottled.
Flowers/Fruit: Light green flowers in umbels, producing black spherical berries, about 1 cm wide. Flowers July/August; fruits mature September/October of the following year.
Habit and Range: Swamps, bay forests, pine flats, pocosins in the Coastal Plain and in the southeastern Piedmont of North Carolina, often in standing water. Found in a few Mountain counties.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Leaves of Smilax laurifolia (laurel greenbrier) can be similar to S. glauca (whiteleaf greenbrier), which has a whitish coating on the leaf undersides and stems.
Click here to view Smilax glauca.
