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