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Smilax Australis Barbwire Lawyer Vine Seeds
Packet of 10+ home grown or freshly wild harvested seeds!
If you are keen on providing habitat for the critters then this guy is worth a look.
It has large leathery leaves that are very variable, and it has long incredibly strong spiny hooked stems.
Apparently the leaves are traditionally sucked on to relieve dehydration but never really tried it in a serious way myself.
There is nearly always Native Ginger growing in the same area and it works great, tastes good too so I’ll stick with that.
The fruit are said to be “edible” and taste peppery, eaten by the Aboriginals, but in my opinion that it’s not peppery in a good way.
More like burning and mildly offensive and I’d have to be pretty hungry to be chewing on them…
That said the birds smash them so if that is your motivation they are a good choice.
The large hooked stems are really strong and apparently they were famous for ripping dudes off horseback in the old days.
Dude would be galloping through the scrub minding his own business and a tendril would hook his clothes, the horse would take off, he would be flung out of the saddle onto the ground, or even worse, dragged by the now panicked horse.
Never been an issue for me, and never personally seen it happen, but it is a good story that I must have been told to me by farmers and bushies a dozen different times over the years by now.
It is very plausible though, as the long stems will easily support the weight of a person and they are great for making snares, ropes and traps from.
Loathed by many folks especially farmers, but as a habitat providing aggressive vine that looks cool, it ticks the boxes.
I bought seeds of this plant many many years ago and I planted it in pots as you do, and unfortunately nothing happened.
Fast forward a couple years and I had recycled the soil for at least a couple herb different crops during that time, eventually dumping it all out in mounds to grow melons in.
It was then the seeds decided to pop and after starting with seeds from 3 different sources(10seeds+12seeds+30seeds) I managed to get 5 healthy plants.
Germination time of ~2years ~10% germination rate.
Since then my gardening skills and understanding of how plants work has improved a heck of a lot, and if I was to have my time over again I would have cold stratified the seeds by placing them in a wet bag full of sand in the fridge for a couple months.
I would have then removed the now cold stratified seeds and planted as per normal.
The seeds would think that it was Spring, then Winter.
Winter has now past, and it is the ideal time to germinate.
Apparently germination times of <3months and ~70% are pretty standard with this method.
I may have even run a trial with germination stimulants like Gibberillic Acid or Native Smoke Treatment which are pretty awesome for pretty much everything.
ANYWAY, I didn’t actually do any of that, this is all just theory.
I have enough of this fella to not need to plant more, and I also know a few spots in the bush further north that have heaps.
These seeds you are buying are from me are freshly picked, no doubt much fresher than the ones I bought from commercial vendors back in the day, but that’s pretty much all I can tell you.
Germination could be slow and erratic, especially without special treatment.
As a wild undomesticated species with a high natural dormancy that is just the nature of the beast.
Consider them a gamble.
Grown or wild harvested by me and the Mrs, no chems, no nasties, no problems!!!
