Common Greenbriar

Taxobox
name = Common Greenbriar

---

image_width = 240px
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Liliopsida
ordo = Liliales
familia = Smilacaceae
genus = "Smilax"
species = "S. rotundifolia"
binomial = "Smilax rotundifolia"
binomial_authority = L.

Common Greenbriar ("Smilax rotundifolia"), also known as Common Greenbrier, is a common woody vine native to the Eastern United States [1] . The leaves are glossy green, petioled, alternate, and circular to heart-shaped. They are generally 5-13 cm long. Common greenbriar climbs other plants using green tendrils growing out of the petioles [1] .

The stems are round, green and have sharp prickles growing on them. The prickles can be damaging if one gets entangled in a patch of them. The flowers are greenish, and are seen from April to August, the fruit they produce are bluish black berries that become ripe in September [1] .

Cultivation and uses

Common greenbriar grows in roadsides, landscapes, clearings and woods. When it is growing around a clearing, it often forms dense and impassable thickets [1] . It grows throughout the Eastern United States, as far north as Illinois, south to Florida and as far west as Texas [1] .

The young shoots of common greenbriar are reported to be excellent cooked like asparagus [2] . The young leaves and tendrils can be prepared like spinach or added directly to salads [2] . The roots have natural gelling agent in them that can be extracted and used as a thickening agent [2] .

References

*1) Richard H. Uva, Joseph C. Neal and Joseph M. Ditomaso, "Weeds of The Northeast", (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997), Pp. 338-339.
*2) Lee Allen Peterson, "Edible Wild Plants", (New York City: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977), P. 198.

External links

* [http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/smro.htm "Smilax rotundifolia" images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu]
* [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242101941 Flora of North America: "Smilax rotundifolia"] [http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=8472&flora_id=1 Range
]