Editing Smilax (section)

== Ecology ==

The berry is rubbery in texture and has a large, spherical seed in the center. The fruit stays intact through winter, when [[bird]]s 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 [[rhizome]]s, 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 [[wildfire|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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://medium.com/me/stats/post/7935b07c51b0 |title=Sisyphus cut smilax |last=Lubar |first=Steven |date=2017 |website=Medium |access-date=September 29, 2023}}</ref> 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.

[[File:Kaniska canace on Smilax china 07i1804.jpg|thumb|[[Kaniska canace|Blue admiral]] (''Kaniska canace'') [[caterpillar]] on China smilax (''[[Smilax china|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 [[predator]]s who cannot enter the prickly tangle. [[Deer]] and other [[herbivorous]] [[mammal]]s will eat the foliage, as will some [[invertebrate]]s such as [[Lepidoptera]] ([[butterflies]] and [[moth]]s), which also often drink [[nectar]] from the flowers. Beetles too are known to consume leaves.<ref>Nishida, K., L. Ferrufino-Acosta, & C.S. Chaboo. 2020. A new host plant family for Cassidinae s.l.: Calyptocephala attenuata (Spaeth, 1919) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Spilophorini) on Smilax (Smilacaceae) in Costa Rica. Pan-Pacific Entomologist 96(4): 263–267.</ref>

Among the Lepidoptera utilizing ''Smilax'' are [[Hesperiidae]] like the [[Tagiades litigiosa|water snow flat]] (''Tagiades litigiosa''), [[Pieridae]] like the [[Eurema smilax|small grass yellow]] (''Eurema smilax''),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.life.illinois.edu/hanks/pdfs/Tooker%20et%20al%20AESA%2095.pdf|title=Nectar Sources of Day-Flying Lepidoptera of Central Illinois|author1=John F. Tooker |author2=Peter F. Reagel|author3=Lawrence M. Hanks|name-list-style=amp|date=2002|website=life.illinois.edu}}</ref><!-- possibly the name is unrelated to the plant --> or moths like the peculiar and sometimes [[flightless]] genus ''[[Thyrocopa]]''. But particularly fond of greenbriers are certain [[Nymphalidae]] caterpillars, for example those of:
* ''[[Faunis]]'' &ndash; faun butterflies
* ''Kaniska canace'' &ndash; [[blue admiral]] (on China smilax, ''[[Smilax china|S. china]]'')
* ''Phalanta phalantha'' &ndash; [[common leopard]] (on ''[[Smilax tetragona|S. tetragona]]'')