Editing Smilax (section)

== Description ==

On their own, ''Smilax'' plants will grow as shrubs, forming dense impenetrable thickets. They will also grow over trees and other plants up to 10&nbsp;m high, their hooked thorns allowing them to hang onto and scramble over branches. The genus includes both [[deciduous]] and [[evergreen]] species. The [[leaf|leaves]] are heart shaped and vary from 4–30&nbsp;cm long in different species.

Greenbrier is [[plant sexuality|dioecious]]. However, only about one in three colonies have plants of both sexes. Plants flower in May and June with white–green clustered [[flower]]s. If [[pollination]] occurs, the plant will produce a bright red to blue-black spherical [[berry (botany)|berry]] [[fruit]] about 5–10&nbsp;mm in diameter that matures in the fall (autumn).

[[Extrafloral nectaries]] have been reported on the apex and lower side of the leaf of ''S. bracteata''.<ref>{{cite journal |date=2012-10-18 |first1=Marjorie G. |last1=Weber |first2=Kathleen H. |last2=Keeler |title=The phylogenetic distribution of extrafloral nectaries in plants |pages=1251–1261 |doi=10.1093/aob/mcs225 |journal=Annals of Botany |eissn=1095-8290 |volume=111 |issue=6|pmid=23087129 |pmc=3662505 }}</ref>