Plant: American Holly

Plant description

A slow growing native evergreen tree of 40 to 60 feet with a conical, pyramidal and somewhat open crown, carrying thick leathery deep green leaves 2 to 4 inches long with spiny marginal teeth. Greenish white flowers open April to June, and on pollinated female plants bright red to orange drupes persist from September through February. It grows in full sun or partial shade in clay, loam or shallow rocky soils that are acid to neutral and well drained but tolerant of occasional wet or dry spells, and it stands up to deer, salt, wind and storm damage. Use it as a screen, a barrier, a tall hedge or a specimen in a native or wildlife planting.

Flowers

Greenish white flowers bloom April to June, the males in three to twelve flowered clusters and the females solitary or in twos and threes.

Foliage

Thick, leathery, alternate simple deep green leaves 2 to 4 inches long with spiny marginal teeth.

Fruit

Bright red or orange berry like drupes appear on female plants after pollination and persist from September through February.

Bark & stems

Light gray white and smooth bark, sometimes splotched with red or tan lichens or warty, over greenish gray stems.

Native range

Central & Eastern U.S.A.

Plant details