Trees & Shrubs of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

Winterberry is a large shrub, 6 to 16 feet high, forming red 1/4 inch drupes in the fall, assuming that there are both male and female plants nearby as the sexes are separate (i.e. dioecious). It takes about 3 years for seedlings to develop their flowers.

The bark is conspicuous with a thin brown outer surface with whitish patches (lenticels).

Twigs are slender, green on new growth, then brownish, with scattered light colored lenticels. Buds are small and emerge above old leaf scars where there may be a small persistent stipule on the side of the leaf scar.

The leaves are sharply toothed, stalked, 1 1/2 to 4 inches long, lance to ovate shape, pointed at the tips, deep green in summer, hairy on the underside, and turning yellow in autumn.

Flowers: The small greenish-white flowers with 5 to 7 petals form clusters in the leaf axils in early summer in our climate zone. Male and female flowers are on separate plants. Both are stalked and same size, however, the female flowers have one to three flowers in the cluster and the male flowers have two to ten; only at this time can the sexes be determined.

Fruit: The drupes are very attractive and are eaten by about 50 species of birds, HOWEVER, the fruit should not be eaten by humans as it is a purgative. Inside is a hard nutlet.

Habitat: In the landscape Winterberry should be planted in areas that receive good moisture but marsh soil is not required. A large amount of sun is helpful. It can grow to 15 feet high with dense branches. Plants can be developed from rooted stem divisions and stem cuttings.

Names: The genus Ilex denotes 'holly' and comes from the Latin name for the Holm (or Evergreen) Oak (Quercus ilex). Linnaeus applied it the the hollies. The species name verticillata, means 'whorled' or 'forming a ring around an axis' and refers to the flowers and the drupes appearing as to surround the twig.

The author names for the plant classification are: First to classify was '(L.)' which refers to Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), Swedish botanist and the developer of the binomial nomenclature of modern taxonomy. His work was amended by ‘A.Gray’ which refers to Asa Gray (1810-1888), American botanist, Professor of Natural History at Harvard and instrumental in unifying plant knowledge of North America and author of Gray’s Manual - Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, from New England to Wisconsin and South to Ohio and Pennsylvania Inclusive. He was a student of John Torrey and became his assistant. His first book, Elements of Botany was the first text to use the new Natural System of classification. He and Torrey collaborated for the remainder of their lives.

Comparisons: This is the only native holly growing in Minnesota. In the fruiting stage it could be confused with Glossy Buckthorn (Frangula alnus) when the buckthorn berries are red, but the Glossy Buckthorn leaves are more oval and do not have teeth. The flowers are also different.