Greenbriar

Description:

Common names include catbriers, greenbriers, prickly-ivys and smilaxes. Greenbriers get their scientific name from the Greek myth of Krokus and the nymph Smilax. Though this myth has numerous forms, it always centers around the unfulfilled and tragic love of a mortal man who is turned into a flower, and a woodland nymph who is transformed into a brambly vine. There are 20 species in North America north of Mexico. They are climbing flowering plants, many of which are woody and/or thorny. The young shoots can be eaten raw or cooked and are said to taste like asparagus, and the berries can be eaten both raw and cooked.

Habitat:

Mason Farm Biological Reserve