Georgia Gardener Newsletter Design Tip

Georgia Gardener Newsletter Design Tip: December 18, 2008

Hollies in the Landscape

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Burford Holly

Deck the halls with boughs of holly......

Tis the season that hollies make their presence known in the garden. For some reason, this year seems to have a bumper crop of holly berries. As landscape shrubs, they are invaluable, if not overused but their adaptability, availability and versatility make them oh so popular.

It is a daunting task the undertake a newsletter article on the topic of hollies. Entire books have been dedicated to the subject and I would never assume to even be able to do more than scratch the surface on this topic. However, I thought I would highlight some of the more common landscape hollies to help you know which ones you have.

I'm going to divide my holly discussion into several sections: Chinese holly cultivars, Japanese holly cultivars, popular hybrids and native hollies.

Chinese Hollies (Ilex cornuta)

As is obvious by the name, Chinese hollies come from China. These evergreen shrubs vary in size and leaf shape by cultivar. Chinese hollies are dioecious (separate male and female plants) with the pollinated female plants bearing the bright red berries. Female plants often require the presence of a male in order to set fruit, with at least one notable exception. I like to refer to the Chinese hollies as the prickly plants as they are the most spiny of the hollies commonly used in landscapes.

The table below is only a partial list of the Chinese holly cultivars, but does represent some of the more commonly used.

Cultivar & Size	Leaf Structure	Comments
'Burfordii' (Burford) 15x10	Bright glossy green usually with a single terminal spine	Female, but has the ability to bear fruit parthenocarpically (without pollination)
'Carissa' 4x6	Light green curved usually with a single terminal spine	Female, but usually no fruit. Can revert easily to spiny 'Rotunda' form
'Dwarf Burford' 6x5	Dark green usually with a single terminal spine	Less fruit than 'Burfordii'
'Needlepoint' 12x8	Shiny dark green usually with a single terminal spine	Female, good fruit set with pollination
'Rotunda' 4x8	Shiny green with very nasty spines	Female, but little if any fruit


Burford Holly Leaf	Carissa Holly Leaf	Rotunda Holly Leaf

Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata)

Unlike their Chinese cousins, the evergreen leaves of the Japanese hollies tend to be much smaller and toothed instead of possessing injury-inducing spines. They also lack the shiny lustre often seen on Chinese hollies. The leaves on some of the more compact (dwarf) plants can easily be mistaken for boxwoods and many people erroneously refer to these plants as boxwood hollies.

Like their Chinese cousins, Japanese hollies are also dioecious (separate male and female plants) but the fruit is dark blue to black on female plants and is usually inconspicuously held under the leaves. Therefore, these hollies are not usually grown for their fruit, but for their tight, compact evergreen foliage.

The table below is only a partial list of the Japanese holly cultivars, but does represent some of the more commonly used.

Cultivar & Size	Leaf Structure	Comments
'Compacta' 4x4	Dark green toothed leaves with purple stems	Gender unknown since this name may represent more than one clone
'Fastigiata' 8x3	Thick, dark green	Gender unknown since this name may represent more than one clone
'Green Lustre' 6x10	Dark green lustrous and thick	Female
'Helleri' 5x5	Leaves very similar to Compacta	Female
'Sky Pencil' 8x2	Dark green	Female


Compacta Holly Leaf	Compacta Holly Habit	Sky Pencil Holly Habit

Hybrid Evergreen Hollies

There are many species of hollies and industrious breeders through the years have engaged in hybridizing species to see what can be created. Some fine plants have been produced this way which have resulted in some popular landscape plants.

Name	Size	Comments
Foster Holly Ilex x attenuata 'Fosteri'	30x15	Actually a group of hybrids comprised of male and female (red fruit) plants.
Savannah Holly Ilex x attenuata 'Savannah'	30x15	Female that has short spines and heavy red fruit set with pollination
Emily Bruner Holly Ilex x 'Emily Bruner'	20x10	Female with dark green leaves with a single terminal spine and heavy red fruit set with pollination
Nellie R. Stevens Holly Ilex x 'Nellie R. Stevens'	20x12	Female with dark green leaves with 7+/- spines and heavy red fruit set (some parthenocarpically)


Foster Holly Leaf	Savannah Holly Bark

Native Hollies

There are several native hollies that are slowly pushing their way into the trade. Of these, we have several evergreen and two deciduous species. Like other hollies, our natives are also dioecious with females requiring pollination from male plants in order to produce fruit. More attention needs to be paid to our native hollies as a way to retain our natural heritage.

Name	Cultivars	Comments
Inkberry Ilex glabra	'Shamrock', 'Densa', 'Compacta', etc.	Evergreen with dark blue (sometimes white) fruit on females
American Holly Ilex opaca	numerous	Evergreen with bright red fruit on females; can grow to be a 50-foot tree
Yaupon Holly Ilex vomitoria	'Nana', 'Pendula', 'Dodd's Yellow', etc.	Evergreen with bright red (sometimes golden) fruit on females
Winterberry Ilex verticillata	'Berry Nice', 'Red Sprite', 'Winter Red', 'Southern Gentleman', etc.	Deciduous holly with bright red fruit on females; good wetland plant
Possumhaw Ilex decidua	'Byer's Golden', 'Red Cascade', etc.	Deciduous holly with bright red (sometimes golden) fruit on females


Inkberry Holly Leaf	American Holly Habit	Winterberry Fruit

Finally....Is it a Holly or a Boxwood?

If your evergreen shrub has a problem, it's important to know if the plant is a boxwood or a holly. They are not closely related. For the untrained eye, it can be hard to distinguish a small-leafed holly from a boxwood. However, it's easy once you know what you're looking at and sometimes smelling. The leaves on all hollies are alternate - that is they come from different points along the stem. The leaves of boxwoods are opposite. They always come off the stem in pairs and are directly across from each other. The other defining trait on some boxwoods is the offensive odor they emit. It smells as though a male cat has "marked" the shrub.