FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Deciduous leaves on very short shoots with many leaf scars. Corky leaf scars on gray twigs distinctive. All hollies have small black stipules at leaf bases.
Synonym(s): Ilex curtissii
Description: Large deciduous shrub or small understory tree, usually to 3 m, occasionally taller.
Leaves: Elliptic to obovate, with crenate margins, 3 to 5 cm long and 1 to 3 cm wide, with the widest part past the middle. Leaves soft, not leathery, and without spines.
Flowers/Fruit: Small white flowers on short stalks at bases of leaves. Fruit is red spherical drupe that persists after leaves fall. Blooms March to May; fruits September/October,
Habit and Range: Floodplain forests and along creeks and uplands. Chiefly in the Piedmont and northwestern third of the Coastal Plain.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Ilex verticillata (common winterberry) has similar, but larger and wider leaves than Ilex decidua (possumhaw).
Click here to view Ilex verticillata.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
