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You are here >1Up Info > Wildlife, Animals, and Plants > Plant Species > Shrub > Species: Smilax laurifolia | Laurelleaf Greenbrier
 

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BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

SPECIES: Smilax laurifolia | Laurelleaf Greenbrier
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : Laurelleaf greenbrier is a monocotyledonous, woody vine native to the southeastern United States. Its stems are armed with abundant to occasional, stout prickles. It frequently climbs overstory vegetation. Dead stems persist and help to form dense tangled thickets on sites where laurelleaf greenbrier grows [6,11]. Underground, the stems of laurelleaf greenbrier form thick, heavy, tuberous rhizomes. The rhizomes have reddish surfaces and are massive. They support vigorous sprouts, capable of averaging 2.5 inches (7 cm) of growth per day during the growing season [11,19]. Laurelleaf greenbrier leaves are evergreen, rounded, and leathery. Short, twisted petioles hold the leaves erect from the stems. Laurelleaf greenbrier flowers are small regular and borne in axillary umbels. The fruit is a berry which is shiney-black at maturity. The fruits ripen the second season after fruit-set and often persist into or through their second winter. Berry production is prodigious [6,9,11,19]. RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : Phanerophyte REGENERATION PROCESSES : Laureleaf greenbrier regenerates vegetatively by sprouting from its tuberous rhizomes [19,25]. It also regenerates sexually although the details have not been described. The nature of the fruit, its use by wildlife (see IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE), and records of seedling germination in black bear scat [3] indicate that the seeds are dispersed by animals. SITE CHARACTERISTICS : Laurelleaf greenbrier grows in shrub-tree bogs, cypress (Taxodium spp.)-gum (Nyssa spp.) depressions, along marshy stream banks [11], and in Louisiana pitcher-plant (Sarracenia spp.) bogs [1]. It is abundant in all age classes in cypress heads, especially along the margins [21]; and is a dominant in pocosin communities [23]. In Everglades National Park, laurelleaf greenbrier is common in hammock understories and occasional in sawgrass (Cladium spp.) swamps [7]. It is characteristic of Okefenokee Swamp understories [4,5], and is common on burned or open areas in the Great Dismal Swamp [20,28], and mesic sites in North Carolina's Green Swamp [26]. Typical laurelleaf greenbrier soils are mucky, peaty, acidic organics (Histosols). They are often poorly drained [20,23]. Water regimes are saturated; sites are frequently or seasonally flooded [23]. Laurelleaf greenbrier is "almost always present on pond pine (Pinus serotina) sites" [2]. Other common overstory associates include cypress, swamp blackgum (N. sylvatica), white bay (Magnolia virginiana), loblolly bay (Gordonia lasianthus), sweet bay (Persea borbonia), red maple (Acer rubrum), Cassena (Ilex cassine), titi (Cyrilla racemiflora), and southern white cedar [5,23]. Understory associates include hurrahbush (Lyonia lucida), leucothoe (Leucothoe racemosa) sweetspire (Itea virginica), poor-man's soap (Clethra alnifolia), coral greenbrier (S. walteri), and honeycup (Zenobia pulverulenta) [5]. SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : Laurelleaf greenbrier is an early-seral species in the successional trend toward mature lowland forests and is a severe competitor of tree seedlings [3]. Although a common understory species, laurelleaf greenbier apparently grows better in full sunlight. Overstory removal releases it to form dense thickets [12]. SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : Laurelleaf greenbrier shows its most pronounced growth between April and June [19]. It flowers between July and August [6,29] and its berries ripen during August and September of their second growing season [25].

Related categories for Species: Smilax laurifolia | Laurelleaf Greenbrier

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Information Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire Effects Information System

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