American Holly, 2025

Ilex opaca, colloquially known as American Holly, is native to eastern and south-central United States. Unsurprisingly, this species is in the Holly family Aquifoliaceae and is evergreen. Holly leaves are simple with spiny teeth along the margin and have a thick cuticle layer which protects them from desiccation and the cold. This waxy feature is what gives holly leaves their glossy shine. The holly tree is a dioecious, which is Latin for ‘two houses’, meaning male and female reproductive organs are found on separate trees. The pistillate (female) inflorescence is single; flowers have four petals, four sepals, four sterile stamens, and a pistil with a superior ovary. The staminate (male) inflorescence is a cyme that consists of 3 to 12 flowers; each has four petals, four sepals, four pollen-producing stamens, and a sterile pistil. The fruit is often referred to as a berry, though botanists recognize it as a drupe containing 4-9 nutlets, or seeds. Holly trees are often small and shrubby in the wild, though they mature at 40-60″ tall.