Thorny vine ID?

18 years ago

I have this "demon" growning wildly in a brush area & it's wicked. It grows straight up out of the ground up to 4-5 ft without branching off, has thorns, has tubor root, no flowers, & spreads like crazy. I'm sure Roundup will get it, but I want to know what it is! I had it in South Georgia & now have it here in VA. It grows in brush where there's no activity on my part!

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Comments (3)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
18 years ago
You have one of the many species of Smilax. And I wouldn't be so sure about RoundUp......;-)
kesca
18 years ago
I have one of those.

And I have a lot of Ivy growing around the house, too.

Yesterday, I was pulling the ivy that was growing from under thick pile of leaves/mulch and at some point down along the vine, a couple of yards past the last leaf, thorns started to appear.

Is it possible that the thorns are stunted leaf growth because of lack of exposure to sun?
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geebeega
Original Author
18 years ago
I did some research & did find Smilax & agree that I do have Smilax, but don't feel this plant that I showed above is the same--may be similar. In 15 years, the one I have in addition, do not have flowers, berries, woody vines, and they grow straight up with little branching off. The thorny stem gets up to about 3/4 inch thick quickly, but stay green. Mean creature!