Smilax is the vine country folk call “diamond vine”: thorns on the stems, leaf veins curving in arcs, and in autumn clusters of red berries—tough, with a touch of handsomeness.

The Diamond Vine

Smilax is the vine country folk call the diamond vine: sparse thorns on the stems, leaf veins curving in arcs, and in autumn clusters of red berries—tough, with a touch of handsomeness. It does not climb very high, sprawling sideways through thickets, clump joining clump into a sheet.

Touch it carefully—the thorns are short but hard. In spring it flowers, umbels of yellow-green, unremarkable; come autumn, when the red berries hang, the whole clump suddenly looks alive.

— Botany Notes, self-inscription —

A body of hard thorns hung with red beads,

claiming half a day of idle autumn wind.

Red Berries and the Leaf

Every deep autumn, smilax’s berries turn from green to red—round little fruits hanging in handfuls, the mountain birds’ favorite food. The birds carry the seeds away, and the vine gains a new foothold.

Its leaf is a bit like a rhombus with a pointed tip; the arched veins are its easiest mark. In winter the leaves fall, but vine and thorns remain, and a cluster of red berries can hang until the snow.

The Block Root of the Diamond Vine

Its rootstock is thick and starchy. In famine years of old, mountain folk dug it and ground it into flour to stave off hunger—a mouthful the mountains provided. No one depends on it for survival now; it has turned to being a medicine instead.

In Chinese medicine, smilax dispels wind and drains dampness, used for joint and damp-heat complaints; in the Jiangnan region an old recipe boils its root with pork bone as a broth, said to dispel dampness—a practice where folk remedy and food custom mix.

• How to know it: Climbing shrub; stems with sparse thorns; leaves ovate with arcuate veins; berries spherical, red when ripe, hanging in clusters on the vine.
• Season: Flowers April–May; red berries September–November; in winter berries and thorns hang together—a touch of red in mountain winter scenes.
• Caution: Though the rootstock holds starch, verify its source before wild digging or eating; folk recipes should be confirmed by a physician before use.

From Hillside to Hedge

Smilax tolerates poor soil and drought and is easy to keep—fine material for hillside hedges: one clump in, thorns to block the way, berries to look at, and no tending required.

It is also a common understory vine of southern woods, holding a slope of earth in place. Thorny plants are not much loved, but without them a steep bank would long since have washed into gullies.

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Keywords: smilax · diamond vine · red berries · hillside