Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Aquifoliales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Ilex glabra
FAMILY
Aquifoliaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Inkberry at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ilex glabra
FAMILY
Aquifoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Trees, Shrubs, Woody Vines of north Florida & adjacent GA & AL (Godfrey, 1988)
Ilex glabra
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 112-01-009:
Ilex glabra FAMILY Aquifoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Ilex glabra
COMMON NAME:
Inkberry, Bitter Gallberry, Little Gallberry
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_ilgl_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_ilgl_005_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm130406_876
April Richmond County GA
Fort Gordon
Leaves 3-4x long as wide, crenate in the apical 1/2 to 1/3 (or rarely entire), per Weakley's Flora.
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Patrick D. McMillan pdmiglabra_srec
May Richland County SC
Sandhills Recreation Center
Female flowers mostly solitary, male in small clusters, on separate plants, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmiglabra_fb1
May-June
Leaves elliptic with a tapering base, leathery, lustrous yellow-green above, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm081009_069
October Dorchester County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm161001_750
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
Fruit a dry drupe, solitary in axils, 5-7mm wide, green maturing to black, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
Will Stuart wil_10526945776
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
)
Sharleen Johnson shj_478643897509901
December Charleston County SC
Francis Marion National Forest
Leaves generally about 1cm wide (almost never > 2cm wide), per Weakley's Flora (2022).
)
Sharleen Johnson shj_851986956124833
December Charleston County SC
Francis Marion National Forest
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Ilex glabra
FAMILY
Aquifoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ilex glabra
FAMILY
Aquifoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Trees, Shrubs, Woody Vines of north Florida & adjacent GA & AL (Godfrey, 1988)
Ilex glabra
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 112-01-009:
Ilex glabra
FAMILY
Aquifoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Ilex glabra
739
Shrub
Perennial
Usually dioecious
Habitat: Savannas, pine flatwoods, pocosin margins, swamps, primarily in wetlands, but extending upslope even into sandhills, with a clay lens or spodic horizon below to maintain additional moisture, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Coastal Plain (rare in Piedmont)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Not armed
LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Alternate
Margins crenate in the upper half to one-third
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White/Greenish-white
5-9 merous
5-9 sepals
5-9 petals
Usually unisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Black
Drupe
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p348
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p076
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p249
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p253
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p342
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p172
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p129
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p087
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p396
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p172
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p172
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