The berry is rubbery in texture and has a large, spherical seed in the center. The fruit stays intact through winter, when
birds and other animals eat them to survive. The seeds are passed unharmed in the animal's droppings. Since many
Smilax colonies are single clones that have spread by
rhizomes, both sexes may not be present at a site, in which case no fruit is formed.
Smilax is a very damage-tolerant plant capable of growing back from its rhizomes after being cut down or burned down by
fire. This, coupled with the fact that birds and other small animals spread the seeds over large areas, makes the plants very hard to get rid of. It grows best in moist woodlands with a
soil pH between 5 and 6. The seeds have the greatest chance of germinating after being exposed to a freeze. (
Kaniska canace)
caterpillar on China smilax (
S. china) Besides their berries providing an important food for birds and other animals during the winter, greenbrier plants also provide shelter for many other animals. The thorny thickets can effectively protect small animals from larger
predators who cannot enter the prickly tangle.
Deer and other
herbivorous mammals will eat the foliage, as will some
invertebrates such as
Lepidoptera (
butterflies and
moths), which also often drink
nectar from the flowers. Beetles too are known to consume leaves. Among the Lepidoptera utilizing
Smilax are
Hesperiidae like the
water snow flat (
Tagiades litigiosa),
Pieridae like the
small grass yellow (
Eurema smilax), or moths like the peculiar and sometimes
flightless genus
Thyrocopa. But particularly fond of greenbriers are certain
Nymphalidae caterpillars, for example those of: •
Faunis – faun butterflies •
Kaniska canace –
blue admiral (on China smilax,
S. china) •
Phalanta phalantha –
common leopard (on
S. tetragona) == Uses ==