Laurel greenbrier goes by several names, but Blaspheme Vine is the one that sticks in the memory, reportedly earned by the curses provoked when attempting to clear it from a bog or low sandy flat. The thick, glossy leaves are distinctive among smilax, and the plant keeps them year-round, making it one of the more useful native vines for evergreen screening in warm coastal gardens, from zone 7 through 10. It is primarily at home in coastal bogs and moist lowlands, though it will tolerate drier sites once established.

The stems are spiny on older growth, and the plant produces 1 to 2-foot tubers that help it persist through disturbance. As with all smilax, it is dioecious, meaning a male pollinator is required for the female to set fruit. The berries that result are taken by birds and wildlife. Despite its somewhat fearsome reputation for toughness, it is moderately deer resistant, which is a practical virtue in coastal gardens where deer pressure tends to be high. Give it space to climb something sturdy, prune the occasional overreach, and it rewards with glossy, year-round foliage.