Greenbriers, Smilax sp. are common brambles in this area. Here in the Watchung Mountains, a thorny vine will most likely be this, mutiflora rose, blackberry, or wineberry. This one has stout prickles and is most likely S. rotundifolia (round-leaved or common greenbrier)
Greenbriers can be the most annoying of the four, because, despite having softer prickles than rose or blackberry, the dark tips of the prickles break off and stay in the surface of your skin, often causing small, irritated bumps, until the dark speck of the prickle is dug out of the skin.
Greenbriers are the only local vine that has both thorns and tendrils, though the tendrils are not visible above. Roses sometimes have round, green stems but are much more stout than greenbriers. The tendrils on greenbriers first catch onto something and then begin to twist from both ends in opposite directions to bring the plant closer to the object. It's interesting to see.
No comments:
Post a Comment