A Good Reason to Watch Where You Are Going in the Woods

Sometimes appearances really do represent the situation at hand. That can be good, or it can be bad.

With winter about a month in the future for north Florida, the observer must be focused to identify the problems in the native environment. Unfortunately, if left too long the problems can be challenging to control in home landscapes.

This seasonal uncloaking of plants losing their leaves allows for easy examination of the structure and configuration of what has been hidden for the past few months. The current exposure also reveals potentially painful hazards in the native landscape.

Smilax, the sinewy vine, puts up an intimidating barrier to man and beast when not camouflaged in greenery. Also known as green briar, cat briar and other sometimes rather graphic terms, the native plant thrives in panhandle Florida.

Physically encountering smilax can be quite painful. Its thorns are sharp and stiff which can result in painful cuts. Growth pauses during the winter, but it will resume in spring.

In Greek mythology, Smilax was a wood nymph who was transformed into a bramble after the unfulfilled and tragic love of a mortal man. Her final form in this fable was a reflection of her character.

Botanically, smilax is found in tropic to temperate zones. There are about 350 species worldwide and 12 in Florida, with nine being common. 

The plant is very vigorous and is equipped with an enviable array of survival traits. It is ready to take every advantage to flourish and inhabit new territory, even among the most unfavorable conditions.

Individual plants can withstand harsh treatment and environments. If burned or mowed to the soil’s surface, they will regenerate from a segmented rhizome root system. Rhizome roots are the subterranean stems which spread roots and runners from bulbous root nodes.

Smilax roots have a malignant appearance with the ability to send roots in every direction. If pulled up, the rhizome root system will separate at joints. Even the smallest piece of root left in the dirt will generate a new plant.

If pulled up, the rhizome root system will separate at joints. Even the smallest piece of root left in the dirt will generate a new plant.

Smilax has the additional resource of extra-floral nectaries, nectar-producing glands physically separate from the flowers. These nectaries may function as an organ for the plant to rid itself of metabolic wastes and/or to attract beneficial insects for pollination and defense.

Ants are especially attracted to the extra-floral nectaries in smilax and may establish mounds close by. The ants defend the smilax from herbivores which eat the leaves, if they can get past the thorns.

Ants commonly use smilax vines as a readily available pathway on foraging trips. Ants may even establish colonies in above ground locations, courtesy of wide reaching pathways provided by the thorny plant.

In addition to spreading by its root system, smilax produces berries which each contain a seed. The berries appear in late summer or early autumn and most ripen to a blue-black color.

The berries are usually consumed in winter after the smilax loses it leaves. Birds and animals will deposit the seeds at a new site. Best chances for a seed to germinate occur after it is exposed to a freeze, like earlier this week.

Smilax vines will climb up trees, fence posts, and any other stationary object to get better sun exposure. They have been known to reach over 30 feet in height, but they do not tend to kill their host by shading out the sun.

Ants commonly use the vines as a readily available pathway on foraging trips. Ants may establish colonies in above ground locations, courtesy of smilax vines which provide a wide reaching pathway.

Smilax can be controlled with some broadleaf herbicides, but repeated applications will be necessary. The best time to apply herbicides is in the early spring, when the first leaves appear.

Once all the leaves return, smilax can be difficult to identify and control, because it will be hidden among all the greenery common in north Florida. That is, until physical contact is made and the thorns encountered.