COMMON GREENBRIER (Cat Brier) 

 Smilax hispida Muhl. 



June 



River bottom woods 



Vicious with thin, needle-like thorns, the green- 

 brier makes a network of entangling vines which 

 are bright green all winter long. Clusters of 

 dark green fruits and a few shriveled leaves still hang on the vines, and 

 the cardinals which live in the woods all winter gather here. In time of 

 snow, the bright colors of the male cardinals and the more muted tones 

 of the females against the snow and the green tangle of vines is a pleasant 

 sight in a land not noteworthy for color in winter. Greenbrier tangles, 

 and cardinals . . . this is one of the pictures of the Illinois winter. 



Greenbrier is common in the lowlands where it twines into trees 

 and bushes and makes a jungle of prickly vines which live unchanged, 

 except for additional growth, for many years. In the tangles in spring 

 the cardinals build a nest; they eat the green fruits in autumn, find 

 shelter among the vines in winter. In spite of the unpleasantly ]n-ickly 

 nature of the brier, it has its place in the efficient plan of the wild. 



It is a true smilax. Its green stems are set alternately with ribbed 

 oval leaves, briglit green and durable. The flowers which come in late 

 May or early June are in clusters — tiny, six-petaled, gi-een-whitc blos- 

 soms. In spite of their meager appearance, they are a member of the Lily 

 family. The stems are densely thorny from the gi'ound to the top of the 

 stem, though less so on the younger growth. This prevents the greenbrier 

 from being popular as gt-eenery indoors, as its less cantankei'ous cousin, 

 the southern smilax, is used. Instead, the greenbrier remains in its 

 humid bottomlands and feeds and shelters cardinals all vear around. 



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