Alternate name: Yaupon
Family: Aquifoliaceae, Holly view all from this family
Description Evergreen, much-branched, thicket-forming shrub or small tree with rounded, open crown, small shiny leaves, and abundant, round, shiny red berries.
Height: 20' (6 m).
Diameter: 6" (15 cm).
Leaves: evergreen; usually 3/4-1 1/4" (2-3 cm) long, 1/4-1/2" (6-12 mm) wide. Elliptical; blunt at tip; rounded at base; finely wavy-toothed; thick and stiff; short-stalked. Shiny green above, paler beneath.
Bark: red-brown; thin, finely scaly.
Twigs: gray; branching at right angles; slightly angled and hairy when young, becoming rough.
Flowers: 3/16" (5 mm) wide; with 4 spreading rounded white petals; on short stalks at base of old leaves; male and female on separate plants.
Fruit: 1/4" (6 mm) in diameter; berrylike; shiny red, clustered along twigs, short-stalked; bitter pulp; 4 narrow grooved nutlets; maturing in autumn, often remaining attached in winter.
Warning Berries and leaves can be mildly toxic to humans, especially children, if ingested in large quantities. Sensitivity to a toxin varies with a person’s age, weight, physical condition, and individual susceptibility. Children are most vulnerable because of their curiosity and small size. Toxicity can vary in a plant according to season, the plant’s different parts, and its stage of growth; and plants can absorb toxic substances, such as herbicides, pesticides, and pollutants from the water, air, and soil.
Habitat Moist soils, especially along coasts and in valleys, sometimes in sandhills.
Range SE. Virginia south to central Florida, west to Texas, and north to SE. Oklahoma; to 500' (152 m).
Discussion The ornamental twigs with shiny evergreen leaves and numerous red berries are favorite Christmas decoration. Yaupon Holly is sometimes grown for ornament and trimmed into hedges. The leaves contain caffeine, and American Indians used them to prepare a tea to induce vomiting and as a laxative. Tribes from the interior traveled to the coast in large numbers each spring to partake of this tonic.
