Native Plants
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Wednesday - December 23, 2009
From: Orlando, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Trees
Title: Thorny plant for fenceline security
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
What kind of thorny plant or vine would you suggest to place along a fence for security purposesANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants has found some native Florida thorny plants that should work for your fenceline.
These first three are thorny vines: Smilax bona-nox (saw greenbrier), Smilax laurifolia (laurel greenbrier) with more information and photos, and Smilax rotundifolia (roundleaf greenbrier) with photos.
There are five different native Florida hawthorns of various sizes that have significant thorns: Crataegus crus-galli (cockspur hawthorn), Crataegus marshallii (parsley hawthorn), Crataegus phaenopyrum (Washington hawthorn), Crataegus uniflora (dwarf hawthorn), and Crataegus flava (yellowleaf hawthorn) and here are photos,
Finally, here are four more native Florida plants with large thorns that should do the job:
Aralia spinosa (devil's walkingstick) with more photographs, Ilex opaca (American holly), Acacia farnesiana (sweet acacia) with more photos and information, and Acanthocereus tetragonus (triangle cactus).
Here are photos of some of the above plants from our Image Gallery:
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