Ilex opaca

Last updated

Ilex opaca
Ilex opaca USDA.jpg
Foliage and immature fruit
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Aquifoliales
Family: Aquifoliaceae
Genus: Ilex
Species:
I. opaca
Binomial name
Ilex opaca
Ilex opaca range map 3.png
Natural range of Ilex opaca
Synonyms [3]
  • Ageria opacaRaf.
  • Ilex arenicolaAshe, syn of subsp. arenicola
  • Ilex laxifloraLam., syn of subsp. laxiflora

Ilex opaca, the American holly, is a species of holly, native to the eastern and south-central United States, from coastal Massachusetts south to central Florida, and west to southeastern Missouri and eastern Texas. [4] [5]

Contents

Description

Ilex opaca is a medium-sized broadleaved evergreen tree growing on average to 10–20 m (33–66 ft) wide, and up to 30 m (98 ft) tall. Typically, its trunk diameter reaches 50 cm (20 in), sometimes up to 120 cm (47 in). The bark is light gray, roughened by small warty lumps. The branchlets are stout, green at first and covered with rusty down, later smooth and brown. The winter buds are brown, short, obtuse or acute. The branches are short and slender. The roots are thick and fleshy.

The leaves are alternate, 5–7.5 cm (2.0–3.0 in) long and 2–4 cm (0.79–1.57 in) wide, stiff, yellow green and dull matte to sub-shiny above (distinctly less glossy than the otherwise fairly similar European holly, Ilex aquifolium), [6] often pale yellow beneath; the edges are curved into several sharp, spike-like points, and a wedge-shaped base and acute apex; the midrib is prominent and depressed, the primary veins conspicuous; the petiole is short, stout, grooved, thickened at base, with a pair of minute stipules. The leaves remain on the branches for two to three years, finally falling in the spring when pushed off by growing buds. [4] [7] [8]

Ripe fruit Americanholly 8046.JPG
Ripe fruit

The flowers are greenish white, small, borne in late spring in short pedunculate cymes from the axils of young leaves or scattered along the base of young branches. The calyx is small, four-lobed, imbricate in the bud, acute, margins ciliate, persistent. The corolla is white, with four petal-like lobes united at the base, obtuse, spreading, hypogynous, imbricate in bud. The flower stem is hairy with a minute bract at base. Like all hollies, it is dioecious, with separate male and female plants; only female plants produce the characteristic red berries. This fruit (drupes) appear late in the season, and whether due to the need to ripen or being a food of last resort, often last until midwinter. They are poisonous to dogs, cats, and humans, often causing diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, and drowsiness if ingested. [9] Cedar waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) will strip the trees of fruit if they are not already bare during their northward migration. [10] One male can pollenize several females. Male flowers have four stamens, inserted on the base of the corolla, alternate with its lobes; filaments awl-shaped, exserted in the sterile, much shorter in the sterile flower; anthers attached at the back, oblong, introrse, two-celled, cells opening longitudinally. The pistil on female flowers has a superior ovary, four-celled, rudimentary in staminate flowers; style wanting, stigma sessile, four-lobed; ovules one or two in each cell.

The fruit is a small red drupe 6–12 mm diameter containing four seeds; it is often persistent into winter. [4] [7] [8]

Branch full of ripe fruit American Holly Ilex opaca Branch 3008px.jpg
Branch full of ripe fruit

A ratio of three female plants to one male plant is required for ideal fruit production. [11]

Taxonomy

It has four recognized subspecies/variations: [3]

Ecology

Due to its shade tolerance, Ilex opaca typically grows as an understory tree in moist forests of the east-central, southeastern, and south-central United States. [12] It is found in sparse numbers in the northern part of its range from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, south to northern New Jersey (including southern Connecticut and southeastern New York, on Long Island). It is abundant further south on the Gulf and Atlantic lowlands. It will grow in both dry and swampy soil, but grows slowly. [4] [8] Ilex opaca var. arenicola, or scrub holly, is found as a shrub component in xeric scrub habitats of the Florida peninsula. The ideal yearly precipitation average for the species ranges from 102 cm to 165 cm. [13]

The flowers are pollinated by insects, including bees, wasps, ants, and night-flying moths. It is a larval host plant for Callophrys henrici . [14] The tree also forms a thick canopy which offers protection for birds from predators and storms. Songbirds including thrushes, mockingbirds, catbirds, bluebirds and thrashers, as well as some gamebirds and mammals frequently feed on the berries. [4] [8] [15]

Cultivation and uses

The wood is very pale, tough, close-grained, takes a good polish, and is used for whip-handles, engraving blocks and also cabinet work. It can also be dyed and used as a substitute for ebony. It has a density of 0.58 to 0.64.[ clarification needed ] The sap is watery, and contains a bitter substance used as an herbal tonic. [4] [8]

Leaves from the American holly can be used to make a tea-like beverage. American holly tea does not contain caffeine. [16] [ unreliable source? ]

Mature plants often display a pyramidal shape 2014-12-30 11 32 25 American Holly along River Road (New Jersey Route 175) in Ewing, New Jersey.JPG
Mature plants often display a pyramidal shape

Ornamental plant

Ilex opaca is often cultivated by plant nurseries for use as a broadleaf evergreen ornamental plant, planted as a shrub or slower growing ornamental tree. Over 1,000 cultivars have been selected, including plants selected for cold tolerance ('Cobalt', a male cultivar, is able to tolerate temperatures as low as −32 °C), growth form (e.g. dwarf forms such as 'Cardinal Hedge', a female plant growing to 1.2 m tall), and color and abundance of fruit (notable female cultivars including the large-berried 'Yule', and the yellow-berried 'Canary' and 'Morgan Gold'). [6] With Ilex cassine it is a parent of the hybrid Ilex × attenuata , which has ornamental cultivars. [17]

The holly in winter

Not only is the holly associated with winter decoration, it serves as a source of food and shelter during inclement weather Ilex opaca winter.jpg
Not only is the holly associated with winter decoration, it serves as a source of food and shelter during inclement weather

Holly is a popular winter Christmas and holiday season decoration. To Christians, the thorny foliage is attributed to the crown of thorns Christ wore, the berries represent his drops of blood, and the evergreen represents life after death. [18] In English poetry and English stories the holly is inseparably connected with the merry-making and greetings which gather around the Christmas time. The custom is followed in North America, and holly and mistletoe are widely used for decoration of homes and churches.

The European holly is smaller than the American holly, but is closely related and closely resembles it. The leaves of both species are similar in outline and toothed and bristled very much the same way, but the leaves are brighter in the American holly and larger.[ citation needed ] The American holly, called the evergreen or Christmas holly (Ilex opacaAiton) was named the state tree of Delaware on 1 May 1939. [19]

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<i>Ilex cassine</i> Species of holly

Ilex cassine is a holly native to the southeastern coast of North America, in the United States from Virginia to southeast Texas, in Mexico in Veracruz, and in the Caribbean on the Bahamas, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. It is commonly known as dahoon holly or cassena, the latter derived from the Timucua name for I. vomitoria.

<i>Diospyros virginiana</i> Species of tree

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<i>Ilex vomitoria</i> Species of holly

Ilex vomitoria, commonly known as yaupon or yaupon holly, is a species of holly that is native to southeastern North America. The word yaupon was derived from the Catawban yą́pą, from yą- tree + pą leaf. Another common name, cassina, was borrowed from Timucua. The Latin name comes from an observation by early Europeans that the ingestion of the plant was followed by vomiting in certain ceremonies.

<i>Ilex verticillata</i> Species of holly

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<i>Ilex crenata</i> Species of holly

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilex aquifolium</span> Species of flowering plant in the family Aquifoliaceae

Ilex aquifolium, the holly, common holly, English holly, European holly, or occasionally Christmas holly, is a species of flowering plant in the family Aquifoliaceae, native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia. It is regarded as the type species of the genus Ilex, which by association is also called "holly". It is an evergreen tree or shrub found, for example, in shady areas of forests of oak and in beech hedges. In the British Isles it is one of very few native hardwood evergreen trees. It has a great capacity to adapt to different conditions and is a pioneer species that repopulates the margins of forests or clearcuts.

<i>Euonymus fortunei</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Ilex glabra</i> Species of holly

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<i>Ilex decidua</i> Species of holly

Ilex decidua is a species of holly native to the United States.

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<i>Osmanthus heterophyllus</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Ilex latifolia</i> Species of holly

Ilex latifolia is a species of holly, native to southern Japan and eastern and southern China, growing in broadleaf forests at altitudes of 200–1,500 m.

<i>Rubus ursinus</i> Berry and plant

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<i>Lonicera sempervirens</i> Species of honeysuckle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly</span> Genus of plants in the family Aquifoliaceae

Ilex, or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. Ilex has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen or deciduous trees, shrubs, and climbers from tropics to temperate zones worldwide. The type species is Ilex aquifolium, the common European holly used in Christmas decorations and cards.

<i>Rhus aromatica</i> Species of shrub

Rhus aromatica, the fragrant sumac, is a deciduous shrub in the family Anacardiaceae native to North America. It is found in southern Canada and nearly all of the lower 48 states except peninsular Florida.

<i>Ilex cornuta</i> Species of holly

Ilex cornuta, commonly known as Chinese holly or horned holly, is a slow-growing, densely foliaged evergreen shrub in the Aquifoliaceae plant family. It is native to eastern China and Korea and attains a height of about 3 metres (9.8 ft). The leaves are usually 5-spined, between 3.5 cm and 10 cm long, oblong and entire. The fruits are red berries, which are larger than those of the European Holly.

<i>Ilex <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> attenuata</i> Hybrid species of flowering plant in the genus Ilex

Ilex × attenuata, the topal holly, is the result of a cross between Ilex cassine (dahoon) and Ilex opaca. It is a naturally occurring hybrid found in the southeastern United States where the ranges of the parents overlap, but hybrid cultivars have also been created. The best known cultivars are 'Fosteri', Foster holly, which does not require males to set fruit, and 'Savannah', with very showy red fruit.

References

  1. ↑ Stritch, L. (2018). "Ilex opaca". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T20680285A20694821. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T20680285A20694821.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "NatureServe Explorer" . Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  3. 1 2 The Plant List, Ilex opaca Aiton
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Grelen, H. E. (1990). "Ilex opaca". In Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H. (eds.). Hardwoods. Silvics of North America. Washington, D.C.: United States Forest Service (USFS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Vol. 2 – via Southern Research Station.
  5. ↑ "Ilex opaca". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
  6. 1 2 Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN   0-333-47494-5.
  7. 1 2 Oklahoma Biological Survey: Ilex opaca
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Keeler, H. L. (1900). Our Native Trees and How to Identify Them. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
  9. ↑ "Holly Berries". www.poison.org. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  10. ↑ Gil Nelson (2010). The Trees of Florida: A Reference and Field Guide (2nd ed.). Pineapple Press. p. 98. ISBN   9781561644742.
  11. ↑ "Plant Database". hort.uconn.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  12. ↑ "American holly (Ilex opaca) - Climate Change Atlas". www.fs.fed.us. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
  13. ↑ "Ilex opaca Ait". www.fs.fed.us. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
  14. ↑ "Ilex opaca (American Holly, English Holly, European Holly, Holly, Inkberry, Oregon Holly, Winterberry) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox". plants.ces.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  15. ↑ Little, Elbert L. (1980). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York: Knopf. p. 564. ISBN   0-394-50760-6.
  16. ↑ "Hollies: Caffein & Antioxidants". Eat the Weeds. 2014-12-07.
  17. ↑ "Ilex × attenuata 'Fosteri'". Plant Finder. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  18. ↑ Yao, Xin; Zhang, Fan; Corlett, Richard T. (January 2022). "Utilization of the Hollies (Ilex L. spp.): A Review". Forests. 13 (1): 94. doi: 10.3390/f13010094 . ISSN   1999-4907.
  19. ↑ "Delaware Code Title 29 § 305".
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