Greenbrier vine shadows on a colorful leaf

After two pairs of flower pictures, here’s the bright leaf of a greenbrier, Smilax bona-nox, that I photographed on the Boatright Memorial Trail along Bull Creek on December 15th. Don’t you like the way the backlighting casts shadows of the acutely thorny vine onto one of its leaves? The color and patterns offer a little consolation for the many times this often-run-into plant has scratched me.

© 2014 Steven Schwartzman