I know what they will say:

 

I know as soon as they open this, they will be saying: You are SO Weird. And I know the people who will be saying it, after they get done laughing. The photos were taken back in early Sept. when I was in Q-town, digging around in the back yard, rooting out those thorny, aggravating tubers that are the source of the thorny, aggravating vines of smilax. My guess in the seeds get spread by birds, and the tiny little sprouts get covered up by falling leaves and pine straw. So tough and resilient nothing stops them, other than completely digging the tuber up, ideally before it gets the size of the ones you see here. I'd suspect those big ones I cursed and sweated over and finally unearthed, chopping away roots that were keeping them snugly in place must be at least twenty years old. They were put in the trash can for the city truck to come and pick up, to prevent them from getting a toe-hold someplace else and starting over.

I know you can't possibly be as impressed with the results of my digging as I was, since I was the one who took the photo, with gardening gloves to give you an idea of the size of those monsters.  You can tell from the top photo that the vines I cut off were bigger around than the base of my thumb. I had to whack them with my clippers as they send out little tendrils to grab onto bark and branches, twining and climbing up into the camellias and on toward the tops of the pine trees. I've heard that the tubers were used by native Americans as something similar to a potato, put in stews as a starch/thickener. Personally I do not care to give it a taste test... when I finally get them loose from tangled matted tree roots that have them securely entrapped and freed the earth, I want to see them Gone.