Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Bull brier \Bull" bri`er\ (Bot.)
   A species of Smilax ({S. Pseudo-China}) growing from New
   Jersey to the Gulf of Mexico, which has very large tuberous
   and farinaceous rootstocks, formerly used by the Indians for
   a sort of bread, and by the negroes as an ingredient in
   making beer; -- called also {bamboo brier} and {China brier}.