Alternate name: Christmas Holly
Family: Aquifoliaceae, Holly view all from this family
Description Evergreen tree with narrow, rounded, dense crown of spiny leaves, small white flowers, and bright red berries.
Height: 40-70' (12-21 m).
Diameter: 1-2' (0.3-0.6 m).
Leaves: evergreen; spreading in 2 rows; 2-4" (5-10 cm) long, 3/4-1 1/2" (2-4 cm) wide. Elliptical; spiny-pointed and coarsely spiny-toothed; thick, stiff and leathery. Dull green above, yellow-green beneath.
Bark: light gray; thin; smooth or rough and warty.
Twigs: brown or gray; stout, covered with fine hairs when young.
Flowers: 1/4" (6 mm) wide; with 4 rounded white petals; in short clusters at base of new leaves and along twigs; in spring; male and female on separate trees.
Fruit: 1/4-3/8" (6-10 mm) in diameter; berrylike; bright red (rarely orange or yellow); bitter pulp; 4 brown nutlets; scattered, short-stalked; maturing in autumn, remaining attached in winter.
Warning Berries can be toxic to humans, especially children, if ingested. 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 or wet well-drained soils, especially flood plains; in mixed hardwood forests.
Range E. Massachusetts south to central Florida, west to S. central Texas, and north to SE. Missouri; to 4000' (1219 m); higher in southern Appalachians.
Discussion The evergreen fruiting branches from wild and planted trees are popular Christmas decorations. Many improved varieties are grown for ornament, shade, and hedges. The whitish, fine-textured wood is especially suited for inlays in cabinetwork, handles, carvings, and rulers, and can be dyed various shades, even black. Many kinds of songbirds, gamebirds, and mammals eat the bitter berries of this and other hollies.
