Ilex opaca - (image 1 of 6)
Taxonomy
Family: Aquifoliaceae
Habitat
Shaded or open woods. Prefers moist, well-drained and acidic soils.
Associates
.
Distribution
MA to FL, west to MO and TX. More common in the southern portion of it's range.
Morphology
Medium tree, to 40' but usually smaller. Leaves evergreen, alternate, simple elliptical to elliptic-lanceolate, to 4" long and about half as wide, spiny toothed (less teeth in older specimens), dark green and shiny above, yellow-green below; petiole .25 to .5" long, minutely downy. Flowers dull white, 4 lobed; dioecious, the staminate flowers in cymes; pistillate 1 to 3 on a puduncle. Fruit a dull red, rounded drupe to 1/2" in diameter, matures in autumn and persisting into winter. Stems green when young, becoming rough with circular raised lenticels with age.
Notes
Flowers in May
Wetland indicator: Facultative upland, Facultative-
Slow growing, eventually becoming a pyramidal tree. Dirr lists it as hardy to zone 5, but zone 6 is more realistic. As is the case for many broadleaf evergreens, the combination of winter cold, wind, and sun can take a toll on the leaves.
References
Dirr, Michael A. 1998. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants:
Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture, Propagation and Uses.
5th ed. Champaign, Illinois: Stipes Publishing L.L.C.
USDA, NRCS. 2002.
The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
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Michael Hough © 2005 |