Photogragh Courtesy of Univ. of Georgia Herbarium
Copyright Dept. of Botany, Univ. of Georgia, Athens
All Rights Reserved

Common Names:
     Cat Greenbrier,  Common Greenbrier,  Sawbrier,  Wild Sarsaparilla
 

     References: (The New York Botanical Garden Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horticulture 1982 ed)
                       (http://muse.bio.cornell.edu/delta/angio/www/smilacac.htm)

Taxonomy:
Kingdom:   Plantae
Phylum:     Magnoliopsida
Division:     Anthophyta
Class:   Monocotyledonae
Subclass:   Liliidae
Order:   Liliales
Suborder:   Liliineae
Family:   Liliaceae; Smilacaceae
Genus:  Smilax
Species:  glauca
 

     References:  (Batson 1975) (http://www.itis.usda.gov/plantproj/itis/cgi_bin/class_report.cgi)
 

Identification:

     Smilax glauca:
     This is a green vine that has green woody stems, which may or may not be armed with long spiny prickles. During the months of May, June, and July it has fragrant yellowish-green flowers that have six petals.  The leaves are fairly large and are glaucous on the bottom. There are usually a pair of tendrils at the bottom of the leafstalk. The vine may also have waxy blue-black berries with up to six seeds.   (The New York Botanical Garden Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horticulture)
     "Stem and branches diffuse or widely climbing, terete or nearly so, often with few scattered prickles: leaf-blades ovate, usually broadly so, ranging to elliptic-ovate or orbicular-ovate, or, on vigorous shoots, orbicular-reniform to pandurate-lanceolate, mostly 4-9 cm. long, glaucous beneath, smooth-edged: peduncle longer than the petiole, very slender: sepals and petals of the staminate flowers 3.5-4 mm. long: berry globular, 6-8 mm. in diameter, glaucous: seed 4-5 mm. long, brown." (Small 1933)

     Authority:
     Walter, Thomas (1740-1789). Born in Britain. Botanist in North America. Emigrated to South Carolina in 1768. He was a planter, merchant, and politician. Wrote Flora Caroliniana, which describes many of the specimen he collected.
     This specimen is found in Walter's Flora Caroliniana.  Several of the specimen noted in this book were part of Walter's personal herbarium.  His herbarium is now part of The Herbarium and Library of the Department of Botany of The British Museum of Natural History, in London, Britain.

     References:  (Stafleu and Cowan 1988)  (Walter 1946)

     Identification Keys:
   " Key to Taxa Based on Surface Features of Leaves
1.  Upper epidermal cells of interveinal areas having larger cells each being separated from any other by a row of much smaller cells........................................................S.smallii
1.  Upper epidermal cells do not have such an arrangement of larger and smaller cells ..2
     2. A crescent shaped subsidiary cell associated with the stomates on the lower epidermis...........................................................................................S. auriculata
      2. No crescent shaped subsidiary cell associated with the stomates on the lower epidermis...............................................................................................................3
         3.  Lateral cell wall configuration of lower epidermis curved ...............................4
            4.  Lateral cell wall configuration of upper epidermis undulated, stomates absent on upper epidermis............................................................................................S. glauca

    Key to Taxa Based on Gross Anatomical Characters of Leaves
1.  Fifteen or more sclerenchyma cells present in margin of leaf .................S. bona-nox
1.  Less than four sclerenchyma cells present in margin of leaf ..................................2
     2.  Large papillose cells present in lower epidermis, ratio of thickness of the cuticle at the leaf margin to the thickness of the cuticle on the upper epidermis at an interval area 1.5 mm from the margin always less than 2:1........................................................S. glauca"
 

     References:  (Small 1933)

     Geography:
    Found in North Central Florida,  Southern New Jersey to Illinois,  Eastern Texas,  Kansas,  Massachusetts, Missouri,  Southern Ohio,  Indiana, Oklahoma, and Mexico.
 

Smilax glauca Walt.

Area	Status	References
North America: Continental United States; Canada; Mexico	Widespread	Godfrey, 1988
Eastern North America: United States east of Mississippi; Ontario and Eastern Canada	Widespread	Godfrey, 1988
Southeastern United States: AL AR DE DC FL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV	Yes	Small, 1933
Southern Appalachian States: AL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV	Widespread	Small, 1933
Coastal Plain	Yes	Duncan & Kartesz, 1981
Piedmont	Yes	Duncan & Kartesz, 1981
Blue Ridge Mountains	Yes	Duncan & Kartesz, 1981
Great Smoky Mountain National Park	Yes	Personal Observation
Ridge and Valley	Yes	Duncan & Kartesz, 1981
Cumberland Plateau	Yes	Duncan & Kartesz, 1981
Georgia	Yes	Personal Observation
Clarke County, Georgia	Yes	UGA Herbarium Specimens

Natural History:

     Ecological Requirements:
     Grows with little difficulty in ordinary, rich, or dry soil.  Will grow in sun or part shade.  It is a perennial vine, a semi evergreen.

     Life Cycle:
     "This species is dioecious.  It has been suggested that the sex is determined by X and Y chromosomes (Mangaly 1968) among the n=13 chromosomes (Lindsay 1930).  Plants flower during the last week in May through the first three weeks in June, the fruit maturing in September.  Species of Smilax have long been recognized as insect pollinated (Delpino 1880), and were grouped by Lovell (1920) with green flowered species pollinated by flies, beetles, and small bees." (Sawyer and Anderson 1998)
     Smilax pollination is indirect.  Pollen is transferred from an anther of the yellowish-green flower to a stigma, where it is deposited, and fertilized.  After fertilization, an ovule develops into a seed, and is enclosed in the ovary.  At the same time, the ovary and parts associated with it develop into a black fruit.  The ripe fruit may burst and expel its seeds, or the seeds may just fall from the plant. (Raven, Evert, and Eichhorn 1971)  (http://www.uakron.edu/edtech/web/Reproduction.html)
     "This (vine) spreads vigorously by underground stolons." (Everett 1982), and "as a member of the lily family it has a bulb situated deep in the ground; therefore, control is virtually impossible except by continuous cutting. Attempts to dig up the bulb have been unsuccessful."
(http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/weeddocuments/greenbriar.htm)

     Population Dynamics:
     "Reproductive plants represent 60% of an average population, and nearly 65% of these are males.  Female mortality is the most likely reason for the strong male bias.  The male plants, although smaller, have twice the number of inflorescences, and more flowers than females." (Sawyer and Anderson 1998)
 

How to Encounter:
     Smilax glauca is too aggressive a plant to be found in any gardens or landscapes. It may be found to cover the edge of woods or a blueberry field, on shady margins of swamps, or on a roadside.  It tends to form large, spreading, impenetrable tangles.  The green woody stems are armed with long sharp spines which readily tear clothes and flesh.  This makes it a great deterrent for trespassers.  It can be found all year, and has yellowish-green blooms from May to June or July.
 

References:  (http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/weeddocuments/greenbriar.htm)  (Chapman 1892)
                   (The New York Botanical Garden Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horticulture 1982)
 

Fun Facts:

•      Smilax roots were used by aborigines to make a red flour called Conti Chatee, meaning red flour root.
•      Roots of some exotic species are used in medicine under the name sarsaparilla.
•      Sprouts can be eaten in salads.
•      Rootstocks can be used in bread and soups, and also made into jelly (Tananka).
•      Adding more water to the Tanaka makes a mixture one can drink.
•      Young, tender roots were eaten by Native Americans after boiling or roasting.
•      Starch was extracted from older roots.
•      The roots themselves served to make the original root beer.

References:
Batson, Wade T.  A Guide to the Genera of the Eastern Plants.  Columbia, South
       Carolina:  The  State Printing Co, 1975.pp.  14-15, 35-36.
Chapman, A. W.  Flora of the Southern States.  2d ed.  New York:  American Book
      Company,1892.
Duncan, W. H.  and J. T. Kartesz.  Vascular Flora of Georgia.  Athens, Georgia:  The
     University  of Georgia Press, 1988.
Elliott, Stephen.  A Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and Georgia.  v.2.  New York:
     Hafner Publishing Company, 1971.
Godfrey, Robert K.  Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of Northern Florida and Adjacent
     Georgia and Alabama.  Athens, Georgia:  The University of Georgia Press, 1988.
Kunkel, G.  Plants for Human Consumption.  Koenigstein:  Koeltz Scientific Books,
      1984.pp.339.
Raven, Peter H., Ray F. Evert, and Susan E. Eichhorn. Biology of Plants.  New York:
      WorthPublishers, Inc., 1971.pp. 361, 719-720.
Sawyer, Neil W. and Gregory J. Anderson.  "Reproductive Biology of the Carrion Flower,
     Smilax Herbaceae (Smilacaceae)." Rhodora 100 (Winter 1998):  1-24.
Small, John Kunkel.  Manual of the Southeastern Flora.  New York:  Press of the Science
      PressPrinting Company, 1933.pp. 309, 311, 312.
"Smilacaceae."  The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America:  Nature's Green
      Feast.1998 ed.
"Smilax."  The New York Botanical Garden Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horticulture.  1982
      ed.Stafleu, Frans A. and Richard S. Cowan.  Taxonomic Literature. 2d ed. v. 7.
      Boston,Massachusetts: Bohn, Scheltema, and  Holkema, Urecht/Antwerpen dr. W.
      Junk. b. v.,Publishers, The Hague, 1988.
Walter, Thomas.  Flora Caroliniana.  Cambridge, Massachusetts:  Photolithographed By
      TheMurray Printing Company, 1946. pp. 245.
Yates, I. E. and W. H. Duncan.  "Comparative Studies of Smilax, Section Smilax, of the
     Southeastern United States." Rhodora 72 (July-September 1970):  289-312.
http://www.anbg.gov.au/angio/smilacac.htm
http://www.infonavigate.com/monocots/7.htm
http://plants.usda.gov/plantproj/itis/class_report.html
http://www.nsis.org/garden/family/greenbrier.html
http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/weeddocuments/greenbriar.htm
http://www.uakron.edu/edtech/web/Reproduction.html

Prepared by Jennifer L. Hunt
Biology Major
University of Georgia Institute of Ecology
June 7, 1999