Smilax laurifolia L.

Slender woody vine, climbing high; stems glaucous at first, beset with numerous straight, stout prickles below, generally innocuous above; lvs evergreen, leathery, oblong or lanceolate to ovate, 6–10 cm, obtuse or subacute, entire, cuneate at base, 3-nerved, the outer nerves much nearer to the margin than to the midnerve; peduncles terete or angled, about equaling the subtending petioles; fr purple to black, mostly 1-seeded, ripening the second year; 2n=32. Wet woods and margins of swamps; N.J. to Fla. and Tex., and inland to e. Tenn. Aug., Sept.

Swamps and low ground. Moist woods and thickets. Bays, bogs, pocosins, swamp margins, marshy banks.

The young shoots are eaten as asparagus. A starch can be extracted from the roots. The tuberous roots are dried, ground into flour and used to make bread.

Can be grown by cuttings, divisions or seedlings.