Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Aquifoliales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Ilex decidua
FAMILY
Aquifoliaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read more about Possumhaw at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ilex decidua
FAMILY
Aquifoliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Ilex decidua
SYNONYMOUS WITH Systematic study of Ilex ambigua, Ilex decidua and related taxa (Krakow, 1989)
Ilex decidua var. decidua
INCLUDING Trees, Shrubs, Woody Vines of north Florida & adjacent GA & AL (Godfrey, 1988)
Ilex decidua var. decidua
INCLUDED WITHIN Aquatic & Wetland Plants of Southeastern US (Godfrey & Wooten, 1979 & 1981)
Ilex decidua
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 112-01-004a:
Ilex decidua var. decidua FAMILY Aquifoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Ilex decidua
COMMON NAME:
Possumhaw, Possumhaw Holly
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_705
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmidecidua_far2b
April-May? Lancaster County SC
Forty Acre Rock Heritage Preserve
Flowers similar to other hollies; petals and sepals usually 4, rarely 5, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm0506l_16
June Union County SC
Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm0506l_17
June Union County SC
Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_ilex_decidua_4
November
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_ilex_decidua_5
November
Drupes scarlet, lustrous, 6-8mm in diameter, on stalks 3-5mm long, per Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989).
)
Ron Lance rwl738_a
November
Leaf blades widest above the middle, bases wedge-shaped, margins undulate, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Ilex decidua
FAMILY
Aquifoliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ilex decidua
FAMILY
Aquifoliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Ilex decidua
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Systematic study of Ilex ambigua, Ilex decidua and related taxa (Krakow, 1989)
Ilex decidua var. decidua
INCLUDING
Trees, Shrubs, Woody Vines of north Florida & adjacent GA & AL (Godfrey, 1988)
Ilex decidua var. decidua
INCLUDED WITHIN
Aquatic & Wetland Plants of Southeastern US (Godfrey & Wooten, 1979 & 1981)
Ilex decidua
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 112-01-004a:
Ilex decidua var. decidua
FAMILY
Aquifoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Ilex decidua
738
Shrub; Tree
Perennial
Usually dioecious
Habitat: floodplain forests, less commonly on mesic (or even dry), upland slopes, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in Mountains)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate
Margins crenate
FLOWER:
Spring
White/Greenish-white
5-merous (4-merous?)
Usually unisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Red or rarely yellow
Drupe
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p068
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p248
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p301
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p450
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p171
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p127
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p087
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p077
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p305
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p174
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p246
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".