The Helping Hand

Smilax is a woody vine that can grow up to fifty feet in length.  This length is supported by anything that is near enough to be in its path.  If it is left to its own whim, it can take over a place in a matter of months.  Having vine overgrowth is bad enough but these things have prickles!  One such vine has decided to make itself quite at home on the side of the old shed out back.  Tendrils have reached all the way up to the rooftop and have wound themselves around any protrusion that could be found.  Long-reaching arms have slithered into cracks between the boards and have wedged themselves beneath the shingles.  The vine has become part of the old shed.  It is as if the two have become one.  The shed provides the support for the vine while the vine helps to hold the old building together.  In a weird sort of way, it is a thing of beauty.  This dependency of one upon the other shows that even the oddest of things can become "friends" and lend a helping hand.

Smilax is one of those "love it" or "hate it" type plants.  Although it has huge root balls that cause digging to be impossible and has those prickles that are a tad treacherous, the plant does have some good points.  Other than holding the old shed together, Smilax has been touted to have great promise in the medicinal world.  Although it has long been used in home remedies as an herbal decoction, it is now being studied worldwide as a possible cure for many diseases.  While I do not urge anyone to run out and dig up a Smilax root to use in tea, I do hope that testing continues.  Perhaps a cure for cancer or other dreaded disease can be as close as the "sticker vine" crawling on the back fence.  

Personally, I like the Smilax as long as it stays where it should and does not invade my azalea bushes!  Once it takes root under some bush like that, it is virtually impossible to remove.  It does amaze me however, that so many plants growing wild show promise as cures.  I do believe it is time to rethink how we look at "weeds".  One of those might just save my life someday! (And just to clarify, I am not above running out back to dig a root for tisane.  I have no qualms about using this root.)