FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Short spines, if present, are not prominent and pointed inward toward leaf apex. Fruits (drupes) persistent throughout winter. Stipules at leaf bases dark brown and obvious.
Description: Evergreen, colonial shrub to 2 or 3 m tall.
Leaves: Elliptic to obovate or oblanceolate leathery green leaves. Leaves 2 to 5 cm long and 1 to 2 cm wide. Leaves pointed at tips and have a pair or two of teeth pointing toward the apex. Undersides of leaves contain scattered, punctate, dark or reddish glands.
Flowers/Fruit: Fruit is a spherical or slightly flattened berry-like drupe, green maturing to black. Blooms May/June; fruits September to November.
Habit and Range: Abundant in acidic pine wetlands, pocosins, bay forests. Mainly a Coastal Plain species.
Taxonomic Note: Also known as gallberry.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
The leathery, evergreen leaves of Ilex glabra (inkberry) are narrower than those of Ilex coriacea (large gallberry), with less obvious spines.
Click here to view Ilex coriacea.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
