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West Virginia Trees

Chapter 104: AMERICAN HOLLY
By A. B. Brooks
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Nature/Gardening/Animals

About This Book

A practical field guide to the native and introduced trees of West Virginia, providing keys based mainly on leaves and fruits, concise family and species descriptions, and detailed line drawings for about 101 native species. It organizes trees by botanical families, gives brief flower notes, a glossary of terms, and suggestions for identifying specimens; occasional introduced species and shrubs are noted. The bulletin emphasizes simplicity for non-specialists, offers measurements and habit descriptions for each species, and includes administrative prefatory material. Its aim is to aid lay readers and students in tree identification and to encourage local interest in forestry.

AMERICAN HOLLY

Ilex opaca, Ait.

Form.—Height 15-30 feet, diameter 1-2 feet; trunk short; branches slender, spreading and ascending, forming a conic crown.

Leaves.—Alternate, simple, evergreen, leathery, glabrous, oval, margins wavy with scattered spiny teeth, dark green above, pale green beneath.

Flowers.—May to June; dioecious, or polygamo-dioecious, the staminate 2-9 on a common stalk, the pistillate usually solitary; small, white.

Fruit.—Matures in late summer and persists through the following fall and winter; a bright red berry-like drupe about the size of a pea, smooth, shining, containing a 4-ribbed, brown nutlet.

Bark.—Smooth, or slightly rough with age, grayish or grayish-brown.

Wood.—Hard, tough, close-grained, chalky-white in color.

Range.—Maine to Florida, west to Texas and Missouri.

Distribution in West Virginia.—Observed in the following counties: Boone, Braxton, Fayette, Logan, Mingo, McDowell, Nicholas, Randolph, Upshur, Webster and Wyoming. Rare east of the mountains and sparsely scattered in other counties along the Ohio River.

Habitat.—Prefers moist soil near rivers or rich loamy and rocky ground.

Notes.—Holly wood is very valuable for inlaid work, cabinet making, interior finish, and piano keys, but the trees in West Virginia are usually small, and afford little timber. During the holidays the evergreen foliage with bright red fruits are much sought after. The tree is slow-growing but is otherwise very desirable for ornamental planting.