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Ilex opaca var. opaca
American Holly
Florida native
An occasional evergreen tree of mesic hammocks in mostly north and central Florida, but also found in Lee and Palm Beach Counties. The range extends much of the eastern United States into New York and Massachusetts and west into Texas and Oklahoma.
Growing to 15m ~50 ft.) in height and dioecious - with male and female flowers on separate trees. Leaves are alternate, thick and leathery and spinulous-dentate or entire. The spines are more than 1mm long, leaves 3-12cm (1-3/16 to 4-3/4 in.) long and 2.5-5.5cm (1 to 2-3/16 in.) wide. Fruit is a round bright red berry 7-12mm (1/4 to 1/2 in.) in diameter.
Ilex opaca is a member of the Aquifoliaceae - Holly family.
Other species of the Ilex genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Ilex ambigua - CAROLINA HOLLY
Ilex cassine var. cassine - DAHOON HOLLY
Ilex decidua - POSSUMHAW
Ilex glabra - INKBERRY
Ilex opaca var. arenicola - SCRUB HOLLY
Ilex vomitoria - YAUPON
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Dec 16, 2019
