Dark red to purple tube flower are born singly, opening to a corolla of 5 lobes, two which point up, three which point down, the middle “lip” being reduced. Lacking climbing tendrils, the stems of flowers and leaves curl around small objects for support. At every leaf node a leaf and a filamentous flower stem sprout, alternating sides along the vine. A slender, shade loving, vining plant with small (3/4” – 1 ½ ”), light green, triangular, pointed leaves, that grows in dense masses, twining up plants. Snapdragon Vine Maurandia artirrhiniflora. Note umbels of small, green flowers convert to clusters of juicy, black, fall berries Note umbels of tiny, white, 5 petal flowers bud from leaf axils, converting to black berries Note some new leaves are maroon, mottled with green Note young leaves may be heart shaped, or lobed, alternating in a spiral, often with a saw tooth margin Note Catclaw, or Saw Greenbriar grows from a hard, fibrous, knobby tuber Saw Greenbriar habit a stout, woody vine growing from knobby tubers, with sharp flattened thorns, often tipped in black, climbing by means of tendrils. English speakers transphonologized the Spanish as “sarsaparilla”. Spanish speakers grilled the new shoots, calling them zarza parilla, “grilled bramble”, and ground the tubers, soaking the mash to produce a spicy concoction. Umbels of small white flowers bud from the axils of new leaves on a long peduncle, each bunch of 5 petal flowers transforming into a cluster of black berries. Abundant in thin soils over chalky limestone, in forests they climb into surrounding trees with climbing tendrils, but in the open they may form a bramble. New shoots are tender and can be eaten raw or grilled, like asparagus. New leaves may be lobed, and are often mottled with purple, and have thorn like teeth along their margins, but older leaves are green, tend to be heart-shaped and crisp, alternating around the stem. Vines easily grow 30′ to 50′ long, the upper ends branching easily, forming tangles in trees. The green thorns are not recurved, but are flattened (like rose thorns) and stout, up to ¼” long, often with a black tip. Lower parts of the vine are ¼” thick, and tough, but snap easily. This brittle, stout, green, spiny, climbing vine sprouts from thick, knobby tubers barely under the ground, which are joined by thick rhizomes. Greenbriar Saw Greenbriar/Cat-Claw Briar Smilax bona-nox L. Note alternating leaves with somewhat narrow, deeply cut leaves. Note a weakly branching, erect, woody tree like bush with narrow, deeply lobed, rough, alternating leaves, producing pink to lavender flowers with a darker basal spot. Mature “trees” have several erect, somewhat leggy, weakly branching ‘trunks’. Although it can tolerate full sun, this hibiscus does best where the afternoon sun is dappled by shade trees, but it will not do well in dense shade. The ovaries ripen into dry capsules that crack into 5 sections, allowing the seeds to disperse. The five lavender to soft pink, or even blue petals have a darker basal spot where they connect to the long pistol, which like other hibiscus, sprouts short stamen tipped with white anthers toward the tip. The tough, slightly rough, narrow, but miltilobed leaves alternate along woody stems, sprouting again from leaf nodes in late spring. Although it will not propagate locally, this medium sized, pink to lavender hibiscus is locally perennial, adding a dash of color during summer months. H syriacus is originally from southern China, but was collected from Syrian gardens, hence the species name. Several hibiscus are cold hardy enough to tolerate Dallas’ weather. Rose of Sharon Hibiscus Habiscus syriacus.
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