Smilax bona-nox
Family: Smilacaceae
Plant Description: Prickly, evergreen vine with triangular or ovate leaves 4-9 cm wide. Leaves smooth with a sometimes mottled appearance on top surface. Small, inconspicuous flowers in axillary umbels, unisexual (with male and female on separate plants). Perianth 5-6 mm long, green. Fruits black.
Field Identification: Vicious vines with cat-like spines that trip people and slash the skin when walking among them.
Plant Trivia:
Occurrence: Frequent on coastal woods, river and creek bottoms, and deep ravines. Often forms dense tangles in wooded and shrubby areas.
Bloom Period: April-May
Plant Use: Large colonies of this vine provide great hiding places for small mammals, reptiles and some ground birds.
Key to the Genus Smilax:
- Leaf margins disinctly thickened……………………………………S. bona-nox
Leaf margins not thickened…………………………………………S. tamnoides
