Saw Greenbriar
Saw Greenbriar
Smilax bona-nox L.
Smilacaceae (Greenbriar Family)
▲ strong new shoot growth in spring
▲ ▼ young leaves in spring have light and dark green mottling
▲ ▼ young leaves in spring have light and dark green mottling
▲flowers and tendrils along stems
▲ stem along the ground
Greenbriar/Catbriar/Smilax:
- Woody perennial monocot vines in the Greenbriar Family (Smilacaceae) that climb by use of tendrils; 3-4 species native to Missouri
- Leaves are heart-shaped, glossy; some species have silvery or lighter-green mottling on young leaves
- Flowers are small & white in clusters in leaf axils; fruit is a white berry eaten by wildlife & spread
- Stems variably spiny with dense to sparse spines
- Leaf mid-veins often spiny; three species common in Missouri
- Saw Greenbriar (Smilax bona-nox)
- Woody perennial vine with heart-shaped leaves with parallel veins, often with patches of lighter green color on a darker-green, glossy background, and base of leaf blade may flare out more than upper portion
- Leaf margins may be spiny, as well as leaf midvien
- Stems have short, stout spines, but not too densely spaced
- Flowers are white in round or panicled clusters arising from leaf axils
- Stem tendrils are strong, long
- Roundleaf Greenbriar (Smilax rotundifolia)
- Woody perennial vine with heart-shaped to almost rounded leaves with parallel veins; leaf undersides are slightly lighter green than top sides
- Stems are light green, with widely-spaced, stout spines that are flared at their bases
- Leaf midveins may be spiny
- No mottling on leaf surfaces
- Flowers are in rounded clusters on stems that arise at stem tips and from axils of leaves
- Bristly Greenbriar, Black-Spined Greenbriar (Smilax hispida)
- Woody vine with medium green stems covered with needle-like spines of varying lengths (1/16-1/4 inch or more long) that start out green, then turn black as the stem matures
- Leaves are heart-shaped to rounded with parallel veins, with no lighter patches, and as glossy as saw greenbriar
- Flowers are in rounded clusters on stems arising from axils of the leaves