Ilex opacaIndiana Native
American Holly

 Plant Type:
 Growth Forms:
 Hardiness:
 Deciduous / Evergreen:
 Flower Notes:
White (Spring; dioecious; fragrant, but not ornamentally important)
 Foliage Notes:
Green (Dark green, lustrous evergreen foliage)
 Stem Notes:
sparsely pubescent, finally glabrous, green color becomes gray to brown
 Fruit Notes:
Red (Showy red berries (on female plants) that ripen in fall and can persist into winter)
 Ultimate Height:
40-50 feet
 Ultimate Spread:
18-40 feet
 Bloom Times:
 Soil Water Requirements:
 Soil Notes:
Prefers acidic, well-drained soil; does not tolerate wet soil and poor drainage
 Range:
Eastern and Central United States
 Maintenance:
 Diagnostic Characteristics:
Evergreen leaves (1.5-3.5" long) are dark green above, alternate, and simple with large remote spiny teeth (1 to 8 at the most per side). Leaf scar is half-moon shaped with a very prominent vascular bundle in the center. An ovoid, imbricate greenish-brown bud sits above the middle of the leaf scar. Stems are green when young, turning brown with raised circular lenticels.

Additional Information

This species, like other hollies, is dioecious, so plant females for fruit and an occasional male for pollination. Winter dessication injury can occur on leaves in exposed sites. Holly leaf miners are one of the major problem pests for Ilex opaca.

3 Ilex opaca found

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= Heritage plant = Memorial plant
Number Accession ID Location
1ORIG_2748*ASTEW
2ORIG_2749*ASTEW
3ORIG_2747*ASTEW

Other plants like this Ilex opaca (American Holly)

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