Yaupon Holly is native to the coastal plains of the Southeastern USA. A popular residential landscape tree, this holly is an evergreen shrub to small tree that can attain heights to 25'. It has stiff, dense branches and small, glossy green elliptical shaped leaves. This shrub bears small white flowers during the spring months and the beautiful red berries appear from fall and throughout the winter. The leaves contain caffeine and although I've never tried it the young leaves can be steeped/brewed to make Yaupon tea, which is said to be quite delicious.
Growing up in the Chicago, Illinois region, I knew of only one American Holly tree that was planted near the administration building of Morton Arboretum in Lisle, that was there from the 1920's into the 1990's, only reaching about 15 feet high. The area with silt-clay loam soils with a pH of about 6.8 to 7.1 the most was not great for this species that is native from central Florida to east Texas to southern Illinois into southern New England. I've seen it thriving in the acid, sandy loam soils of central and southern Delaware in the oak-hickory-beech woods and in some spots in the woods of eastern Pennsylvania. It has been planted a good amount along the East Coast and in the South in average to professional landscapes. It is slow growing of a little less than 1 foot/year. (There is a hybrid of the English Holly x the Chinese Holly, the cultivar of 'Nellie Stevens,' that unfortunately in recent times has often replaced this native species because it grows faster of about 1.5 feet/year, but it does not look as good with a varying amount of irregular growth.) The spiny evergreen leaves of American Holly get about 2 to 4 inches long and are usually medium green and not real shiny. The greenish-white flowers in spring are either all male flowers on each tree with yellow-headed stamens or all female flowers with a big green pistil. The red berries are about 0.3 inches in diameter borne in fall and winter and they are an excellent source of food for birds. The bark is gray and smooth, eventually getting some wartiness. This is a most lovely and high quality broadleaf evergreen tree. Many cultivars have been developed, but I mostly see the mother species around.
English holly is a non-native plant in the Pacific Northwest that has escaped into the wild, but is not yet classified as invasive. It is currently a plant 'of concern' and is being monitored. I am finding several seedlings in the understory of a Douglas fir stand on our property, apparently planted by the birds. So far, I am allowing them to grow as they are a good visual screen barrier between us and the neighbors and will grow in deep shade. I will, however, pull those I may find in our field or back woods. Birds like the berries, and they provide nice plant material for the holiday season.
This cultivar of a hybrid between the English Holly x the Chinese Holly was named after its originator of Nellie R. Stevens of Oxford, Maryland and was released into the trade in 1954. It has been very commonly planted in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the USA since around the 1990's. It has been often used to replace the American Holly tree because it grows about twice as fast. However, it is not as lovely as the American species, as the hybrid shows some degree of straggliness and irregularity in its form. Some major landscape companies in the Philadelphia, PA, area have stopped using it due to the lower quality form. Some specimens still look fine, but some others have gotten very straggly. Some people shear the trees to control that. The evergreen leaves are 2 to 4 inches long by 1 to 2 inches wide with 2 or 3 spines on each side of the leaf. This is a female cultivar so that it does bear red berries about 1.3 inches wide. These berries do not last as long as many other hollies. The fruit can be produced parthenocarpically; that is fruit arising without pollen fertilization, but having some kind of male Chinese Holly around or some others will result in heavier fruiting. I'd rather wait longer for a better American Holly tree.
These bright berries are abundant in low lying boggy/swampy areas locally. I only recently learned these existed in our county. They are plentiful in September and October; and it appears birds and other small wildlife feed on them.
Definitely has winter interest with its red berries that last well over three months in my zone 6b garden, from November through February. It is a great plant for the birds to feed on during winter. The white blooms are very small and nothing special in early summer. Mine are doing well on the north side of the house, where they get a lot of afternoon shade. I have 'Southern Gentleman' on the west side of the house as a pollinator for 'Winter Red'.
Red Sprite is a smaller growing variety of Winterberry shrubs that sets really large berries. Fruit sets in the fall and turns a vivid red when ripe. Fruit then stays on plants all winter on the otherwise bare branches of this deciduous holly. It looks especially striking against the white of a winter snowfall. Like most hollies, Red Spite requires a male plant to be within pollinating distance of the females which are the only ones to set berries.
A good plant for winter interest.
'Winter Gold' is a branch sport (mutation) from 'Winter Red' that was discovered at Simpson Nursery in Vincennes, Indiana in 1984. It gets about 7 feet high and wide. Its leaf color is a little lighter in color. It is cold hardy to USDA Zone 4. 'Southern Gentleman' works as a male cultivar for pollination for this cultivar.
My biggest customer in southeast Pennsylvania has one of this species cultivar in the front yard along a front patio area of flat stones. It has been doing alright, though not thriving, for the about 15 years that I have been working there in USDA Zone 6b, which seems to be turning into 7a. It was planted in the 1980's. It has been about 6 to 8 feet high all the time, though it used have denser foliage until about 6 years ago, and has been opening up its habit since. I don't like working around it when I have to get out leaves or weed as the spiny leaves are very sharp. I've had leaves get stuck to my hands or lower arms. Like other broadleaf evergreens it drops some leaves all year long around itself.
