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Winterberry Holly

Ilex verticillata

Summary 6

Ilex verticillata, the winterberry, is a species of holly native to eastern North America in the United States and southeast Canada, from Newfoundland west to Ontario and Minnesota, and south to Alabama. Other names that have been used include black alder, Canada holly, coralberry, fever bush, Michigan holly, or winterberry holly.

Ilex verticillata is a shrub growing to 3–16 ft tall. It is one of a number of hollies which are deciduous, losing their leaves in the fall. In wet sites, it will spread to form a dense thicket, while in dry soil it remains a tight shrub. The leaves are glossy green, 1+3⁄8–3+1⁄2 in long, 5⁄8–1+3⁄8 in broad, with a serrated margin and an acute apex. The flowers are small, 0.20 inch in diameter, with five to eight white petals. The fruit is a globose red drupe 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) in diameter, which often persists on the branches long into the winter, giving the plant its English name.

The species occurs particularly in wetland habitats, but also on dry sand dunes and grassland. The berries are an important food resource for some species of bird, among them the American robin.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://eol.org/media/14070179
  2. (c) Clayton D'Orsay, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Clayton D'Orsay
  3. (c) niznoz, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/33602849@N00/4165524376
  4. anonymous, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://eol.org/media/14070180
  5. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://eol.org/media/8816830
  6. Adapted by Tom Pollard from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilex_verticillata

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