Native Plants

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Tuesday - September 21, 2010
From: Cleveland, OH
Region: Midwest
Topic: Problem Plants, Vines
Title: Plant identification of vine in Ohio
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I have a vine in my forest that grows up trees, that could eventually pull them over. It has roundleaves and prickers on the stem. What is this vine so I can research it?ANSWER:
This sounds a lot like Smilax rotundifolia (Roundleaf greenbrier). Even though it is native to North America and Ohio, it is listed in Invasive and Noxious Weeds of the Northeast. Here are photos from Duke University and from Discover Life. If you are wanting to eliminate this vine, you can read a suggestion from Tree-Tech.com.
If this doesn't happen to be the vine that you have in your trees, please send us photos and we will do our best to identify it. Visit Mr. Smarty Plants' Plant Identification page to read instructions for submitting photos.
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