Vine · Smilacaceae
Cat greenbrier
Smilax glauca
Cat greenbrier is recorded as native to 24 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 842 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Cat greenbrier at a glance
- Native in
- 842 counties, across 24 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 6a PLANTS minimum temperature −13°F
- Mature height
- 1 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 6a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −13°F; zone 6a winters bottom out at −10°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Cat greenbrier is recorded as native to 24 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 842 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 842 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 66 counties
- Arkansas 54 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 38 counties
- Georgia 53 counties
- Illinois 16 counties
- Indiana 25 counties
- Kentucky 94 counties
- Louisiana 45 counties
- Maryland 11 counties
- Mississippi 38 counties
- Missouri 18 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New York 11 counties
- North Carolina 58 counties
- Ohio 36 counties
- Pennsylvania 36 counties
- South Carolina 25 counties
- Tennessee 49 counties
- Texas 27 counties
- Virginia 86 counties
- West Virginia 34 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Vine
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Thicket Forming
- Shape
- Climbing
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 35 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −13°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 6a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 160
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Foliage color
- Gray-Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- Yes
- Fruit color
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Smilacaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SMGL
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Smilax glauca (PLANTS symbol SMGL).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources