Index / Search / Smilax glauca

§1 Plant

Smilax glauca Walter

vernacular cat greenbrier — species · Smilacaceae


USDA
SMGL
GBIF
5295374
Rank
species
cat greenbrier (Smilax glauca)
Platephotograph · Bruce HolstCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub, Vine
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Smilacaceae Vent.
Genus
Smilax
§2a

Native status, by region

  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 5 counties across 1 state
Legend Native · 5 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
Low
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-13 °F minimum
Frost-free days
160 min.
Precipitation
35–60 in/yr
pH range
4.5–7.5
Root depth
12 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Thicket Forming
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
1 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Gray-Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Green
Fruit colour
Black
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Spring
Seed abundance
Low
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
Yes
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
High
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 5 counties across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SMGL ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5295374 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z