#roundleaf greenbrier

[vandaliatraveler]

Appalachia’s Autumn Bounty, Panel 2: Nature’s final push before the killing frost of October.

[vandaliatraveler]

A pioneer plant that forms thick, often impenetrable brambles where its green tendrils attach to supporting shrubs and small trees, roundleaf greenbrier (Smilax rotundifolia) is one of our most familiar and dreaded native vines - especially when its thorny stems snag on clothing or skin. Although it may not look the part, this perennial shrub in the catbrier (Smilacaceae) family is an important source of winter food for birds and has a long history of medical and culinary use by humans. In late spring to early summer, umbels of three to twenty, greenish-yellow flowers grow on axils extending from the main stems. These are replaced by attractive, blackish-blue berries with a distinctive white sheen in the fall. The berries persist through winter and provide food for many different species of birds. In addition, the plant’s young shoots are edible by humans, while an extract of its roots was once used to make sarsaparilla and root beer (when combined with sassafras root).