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| What's in Bloom? |
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 Winter 2005 Featured Plant
American Holly
American holly is our December/January featured plant. And why not? Ilex opaca offers glossy evergreen leaves and red berries to brighten our spirits at this dark time of year. Most plant species combine the sexes in a single plant, but individual plants of American holly are either male or female, making this a dioecious species. Of course it is the female plant that produces the colorful berries, but male plants must be available to insect pollinators for the berries to develop. The red berries, which attract birds, are common to all holly species, but American holly is distinguished by its large stature and prickly evergreen foliage. In fact, the hollies native to our region are mostly shrubby plants with deciduous leaves that lack spines. American holly is familiar in our landscape as an ornamental, but we are near its northern limit as a forest species. Specimens of American holly can be found at the Preserve near the north end of our Visitor Center and along the Holly Walk. (Photo courtesy of William S. Justice@USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database)
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