VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Smilax rotundifolia | Common Greenbrier 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Numerous birds and animals eat common greenbrier fruits.  The persistent
fruits are an important late winter and early spring food for wintering
birds including northern cardinals and white-throated sparrows [2].
White-tailed deer and lagomorphs browse the foliage [4,12,15,16].

Common greenbrier forms impenetrable thickets of prickly branches which
probably create good cover for small mammals and birds.


PALATABILITY : 
The green canes, tender shoots, and leaves are palatable to white-tailed
deer [15,16].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Ehrenfeld [9] determined nitrogen concentrations of common greenbrier
leaves and new twigs from four wetland communities in the New Jersey
pine barrens.  Nitrogen concentrations were 1.28 percent dry weight in
the floodplain community, 1.52 in the pine lowlands, 1.89 in the wet
hardwoods, and 2.09 in the dry hardwoods.  Nitrogen concentrations of
common greenbrier stems on all sites averaged 0.61 percent dry weight
[9].


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Niering and Goodwin [29] recommend common greenbrier and other clonal
shrubs for right-of-way clearings where trees interfere with powerlines.
Dense common greenbrier, hillside blueberry, and black huckleberry
thickets resisted invasion of trees for at least 15 years in a
right-of-way from which trees were originally removed by herbicide
application.

In Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, common greenbrier was more
important close to trails than in inaccessible areas, suggesting that it
is resistant to disturbance [19].

Medium and heavy thinning of a Louisiana loblolly pine (Pinus taeda)
plantation increased greenbrier (Smilax spp.) productivity [4].

Greenbriers (Smilax spp.) are resistant to most herbicides [47].  Two
years after a late summer application of glyphosate, common greenbrier
foliage appeared normal and healthy [41].

Propagation and eradication techniques are described for common
greenbrier [12].

Related categories for Species: Smilax rotundifolia | Common Greenbrier