204. GREENBRIER (_Smilax bona nox_ L.) abundant vine; locally called
stretchberry, saw-brier, cat-brier. Habitat: woodlands and thickets,
becoming especially obnoxious in heavily pastured woodlands. Leaves: 1½
to 4½ inches long, ½ to 3 wide, alternate, oval or somewhat
heart-shaped, margins entire; smooth, thick, shining, many remaining
green and some mottled with brown in winter; all primary veins running
lengthwise of leaf. Stems: long, evergreen, often very prickly, climbing
by tendrils. Flowers: small, inconspicuous, yellowish or greenish,
dioecious, in umbels, six “petals”. Fruit: black, shining or covered
with a bloom, round or nearly so, size of small peas. This vine’s
greatest virtue seems to be that it offers food and shelter to the
birds.
205. YUCCA, bear-grass, Spanish dagger (_Yucca_ species) more than one
species in the county; abundant in meadows and along roadsides. Leaves:
grasslike but large, thick and tough, in rosettes, often with white
threads on margins; sharp-pointed. Woody stem: very short in our
species. Flowers: greenish white or creamy, many along a central stalk
two or three feet tall; each cupped flower about an inch or two long,
fertilized by a small white moth which lays its egg inside. Fruit: a
short, thick, cylindrical pod containing layers of flat, black seeds.