American holly : Ilex opaca


Kingdom : Plantae
   Phylum : Magnoliophyta
          Class : Magnoliopsida
               Order : Celastrales
                    Family : Aquifoliaceae
                         Genus : Ilex
                              Species : opaca Ait

Common name : American holly

Description:

Medium to large tree, columnar to conical growth form, twigs minutely pubescent to glabrate. Tree with wide spreading branches and pale gray bark.
Holly leaves and berries, Photo by David Byres Leaves leathery, evergreen, elliptic to elliptic-ovate, 4-10 cm long, 2-5 cm wide, with few to many spine-tipped teeth, margins revolute.

Fowers imperfect, on separate plants, staminate flowers in axillary, pedunculate simple or compound cymes; sepals 4, petals 4, white; stamens 4.

Pistillate flowers 1-3 in leaf axils or at nodes just below the leaves; sepals 4; petals white, non-functional stamens 4.

Fruit a drupe, red or orange, globose or slightly ellipsoid, .7-1.2 cm long, seeds (pyrenes) 4, irregularly grooved on the back.


Habitat:

Mixed deciduous woods.

Distribution:

Coast of Massachusetts to Delaware west to Pennsylvania and southeastern Ohio, throughout the southeastern states to central Florida, west to east Texas and southern Missouri.


Holly tree, Photo by David Byres



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