Smilax spp. / Greenbrier

Smilax spp.

Greenbrier, catbrier

Comanche: tsuns (Carlson and Jones 1939:529)

Location in Texas: E, C, SE & NE TX; very common in Travis Co.

Form: herbaceous vine, low shrub, or shrub; perennial.

Food

Roots – dug out from deep underground, the thin skin removed, and roasted by the Comanche (Carlson and Jones 1939:529).

Notes – members of the 1540 De Soto expedition, at one point while starving in South Carolina, “had nothing to eat other than the tendrils of young vines found growing in the woods and streams,” most likely referring to the young shoots of Smilax spp., which are quite palatable and common in this area “full of brambles” (Varner and Varner 1988:286). Being with Indian guides at the time (who foraged other “edible herbs and roots”), they may have learned this food source from them.

Medicine

[unspecified part] – was used as an antisyphilitic by early Texans around San Antonio (Ohlendorf et al. 1980:562). Just after crossing the Medina river, Berlandier says “in the midst of the prairies we encountered a plant—improperly designated zarzaparilla—which the inhabitants frequently use as an antisyphilitic” (Ohlendorf et al. 1980:000).

Notes – the Comanche use and name are not certainly Smilax spp., but this is the genus Carlson and Jones (1939:529) suggest.

Material

Leaves – used to wrap cigarettes by the Comanche (Kavanagh 2008:127).

Experimentation

I have eaten the growing young tips of greenbriers since I was a young child and have considered them one of my favorite wild greens ever since. They are crisp, juicy, and tasty.

I have tried digging up and pounding the roots, but the ones I have tried seem to be too hard and fibrous to process. It may be because my area has more rocky and arid soil.

Smilax species:

Smilax bona-nox / Saw greenbrier

Smilax rotundifolia / Roundleaf greenbrier