Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Aquifoliales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Ilex opaca
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 American Holly at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ilex opaca var. opaca
FAMILY
Aquifoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Trees, Shrubs, Woody Vines of north Florida & adjacent GA & AL (Godfrey, 1988)
Ilex opaca var. opaca
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 112-01-001:
Ilex opaca FAMILY Aquifoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Ilex opaca
COMMON NAME:
American Holly, Christmas Holly
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux dcp34_p46
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_701
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_ilex_opaca_4
January
Fruit a nearly globose drupe, maturing in autumn & persisting til flowering, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow s080301_a
March Charleston County SC
Santee Coastal Reserve
)
Sam Pratt sbp_20140418_122225
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Leaf blades stiff, leathery, margins wavy to sharply spine-toothed, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm080510_004
May Greenville County SC
Female flowers have ovaries and sterile stamens.
)
JK Marlow jkm080510_014
May Greenville County SC
Male flowers have fertile stamens and lack ovaries.
)
Keith Bradley kab_ilex_opaca_6309
May Richland County SC
Congaree National Park
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmiopaca_home
July Anderson County SC
)
Paul Thompson pstilex_opaca
September?
Leaf margins are cupped downward. — Clemson Extension
)
JK Marlow jkm0212b_17
December Greenville County SC
Our only Ilex species that becomes a medium to large tree, per Weakley's Flora.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Ilex opaca
FAMILY
Aquifoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ilex opaca var. opaca
FAMILY
Aquifoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Trees, Shrubs, Woody Vines of north Florida & adjacent GA & AL (Godfrey, 1988)
Ilex opaca var. opaca
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 112-01-001:
Ilex opaca
FAMILY
Aquifoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Ilex opaca
741
Tree
Perennial
Usually dioecious
Habitat: In a wide variety of forests, ranging from xeric to wetland, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Leaves with well-developed, apical, 2-6mm spine (& usually also marginal spines)
LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
4-merous
4 sepals
4 petals
Usually unisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Red
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) p350
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p035
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p293
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p130
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p304
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p459
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p168
- 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) p080
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p216
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p143
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p34
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p239
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p172
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