Description
Attributes:
Perennial
Wildlife Value:
Fruits are attractive to birds. Flowers attract bees. Members of the genus Ilex support the following specialized bee: Colletes banksi.
- Wildlife Food Source
- Wind Break
- Particularly Resistant To (Insects/Diseases/Other Problems):
- Resistant to damage by deer and Phytophthora root rot.
- Edibility:
- Use caution. Berries are slightly toxic to humans if eaten in quantity.
- Dimensions:
- Height: 15 ft. – 20 ft.
- Width: 10 ft. – 20 ft.
- Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Shrub
- Tree
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Broadleaf Evergreen
- Habit/Form:
- Dense
- Erect
- Pyramidal
Growth Rate:
- Rapid
- Maintenance: Medium
- Texture: Coarse
- Appendage: Spines
- Thorns
- Cultural Conditions:
Light:
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Available Space To Plant:
- 6-feet-12 feet
- 12-24 feet
- Fruit Color: Red/Burgundy
- Fruit Value To Gardener: Long-lasting
- Showy
- Display/Harvest Time: Fall,Winter
- Fruit Type: Berry
Fruit Description:
- A good fruiter with vivid red, 1/4 inch diameter berries. They are produced on female plants. Fruits persist into winter.
- Flowers:
- Flower Color: White
- Flower Inflorescence: Cyme
- Insignificant
- Flower Value To Gardener:
- Fragrant
- Flower Bloom Time: Spring
- Flower Petals: 4-5 petals/rays
- Flower Size: 1 inch
Flower Description:
Small, 4-parted, radial, axillary, dull-white flowers in late spring that are 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch. Male and female flowers are on different plants (dioecious). Fragrant but not showy.
- Leaves: Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics Broadleaf Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green
- Leaf Feel: Glossy, Leathery, Prickly, Waxy
- Leaf Shape: Oblong
- Leaf Length: 1-3 inches
- Leaf Width: 1-3 inches
Leaf Description:
Alternate, simple, lustrous dark green above, yellow-green below. Leaves are spiny, coriaceous, and 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, oblong-rectangular in shape, slightly twisted with a large spine at the tip.
