Smilax tamnoides

Description

Bristly greenbriar is a deciduous perennial vine, woody at base. Greenbriers are a bit unusual among woody vines because their branches remain green during the winter.

Also going under the name of S. hispida, this species is usually found twining around trees (not in an aggressive way) and is characterized by stems with small spines and spine-like bristles, in various degrees depending on the plant and the portion of stem you look at. Some specimens can look more spiny than others; the parent pant of the seeds was on the less spiny side, more bristle-like.

The small flowers are disposed in umbels and followed by hanging clusters of ornamental blue berries in the fall/winter; the noticeable difference from S. herbacea is that the fruits of S. tamnoides are not glaucous.

Germination: for all Smilax, the seedcoats need to be ‘soften’ with treatments such as scarification, chipping, peroxide soaking, followed by sowing to provide a few months of cold/moist stratification. Germination in the second year from sowing should be expected.