Greenbrier (Smilax)

What it looks like

Green, wiry stems armed with stiff thorns that climb and tangle with curling tendrils. Leaves are glossy, heart-shaped to rounded, with a few parallel veins running the length of the blade, and some species stay green through winter. It makes small clusters of blue-black berries. Below ground is the real plant: a knobby mass of tubers and rhizomes that can be the size of a football. Common greenbrier, saw greenbrier and cat greenbrier are the usual ones here.

Often mistaken for: Blackberry or wild rose (compound leaves, different thorns), or a young grapevine (no thorns)

When it shows up in the Triangle

Grows from spring through fall in the Triangle, and new shoots keep coming up from the tubers all summer after you cut them. The green stems and some leaves hang on through winter.

Where you’ll see it

Woods edges, fence lines, under trees and in neglected beds across NW Raleigh, from where it creeps into the lawn and gets mowed off into a stubby, thorny patch.

What you can do

• Wear thick gloves and long sleeves; the thorns tear skin and clothes
• Dig out the tubers on small plants, following the stem down and removing the whole knobby mass
• Cut and pull climbing stems off shrubs and trees so they stop shading what they are on
• Mow the lawn edge regularly to keep new shoots cut back; repeated cutting slowly weakens the tubers
• Don't expect pulling the top alone to work; a fresh shoot will be up in weeks