Not Kudzu

Driving along the interstate sometimes I see trees that look like they've been taken over by Kudzu. Kudzu has reached Texas, but not deep into the heart of Texas, so I was confused. Especially since Kudzu does not attack one tree in the middle of a Kudzu free area.
I found the answer.
I have spoken of three vines here on this blog and they are the culprits. This morning I found two trees that had been grown over by none other than Saw Greenbrier. I'm not quite sure how they made it up 20 plus feet into a tree, but there it was.
The first Black Willow I found was hard to identify due to being completely covered in Mustang Grape. The grapes are the main culprit in the Kudzu like tree attacks, they can go from one tree to another and create a thick blanket over the tops effectively killing the trees after a while.
The Snailseed can get really high in the trees, but they have bright red berries and don't generally fill the tree so they aren't quite so bad. They're even quite pretty.
So you may see Kudzu in Texas, but more likely than not it's not Kudzu.

Smilax Bona-Nox

I told you I'd tell you what that thorny vine was, but that scientific name isn't helpful at all I'm guessing.
It's a brier, particularly a Saw (or Cat) Greenbrier. You might have guessed the brier part just by looking at the picture with the dense curtain of old briers making a thorny, nigh impassable, fence. The stems of this vine are tough and wiry with a smattering of spines that look like rose thorns. The leaves vary between heart shaped and triangular and it's 3-5 veins curve to fit the shape of the leaf. While it is not always the case this Greenbrier frequently has white or light green splotches on the leaves. They're about 2-5 inches long and 1-4 inches wide.
The flowers show in Spring they are clumped together and are green with curled back petals. The fruit ripens in fall and are dark purple, they look a lot like grapes - like 1/4 inch diameter grapes.
While other briers may have edible bits, I can find no such information on this particular kind. So the safety mantra goes, "don't eat it!"