Mountain Holly

Description
Scientific Names: Ilex montana
Common Names: Mountain Holly, Mountain Winterberry, Big-leaf Holly

Plant Type: Deciduous small-tree.
Height: Up to 30 feet.
Native Habitat: Understory and openings in hardwood forests.
Native Range: Mostly mountainous areas from southern New England south almost to the Gulf Coast.
Conservation Status: NatureServe lists Ilex montana as Critically Imperiled in Massachusetts and New Jersey, and possibly Vulnerable in Mississippi. The species is officially classified as Threatened by Massachusetts, Endangered by New Jersey, and Exploitably Vulnerable by New York.
Cultivation: Give this plant moist slightly-acid soil with good drainage. It can survive in shade, but will grow faster and produce more berries in a sunny spot.
Related Species: The best-known relative in the United States is the American Holly (Ilex opaca), one of the most cold-hardy large evergreens and an excellent landscaping plant. Nurseries sometimes sell special female cultivars with glossy leaves and abundant berry production. Two smaller evergreens, Dahoon (Ilex cassine) and Yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) grow in coastal areas of the Southeast. The most common native deciduous species is Possomhaw (Ilex decidua). Many other hollies can be found in Europe, Asia, and other regions.

Ilex montana is a small deciduous tree found mostly at high elevations from southern New England to Georgia. The species is notable for having the largest berries of any native holly, up to one-half inch thick. It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 9–12 m tall. The leaves are 3-9 cm long and 2-5 cm broad, light green, ovate or oblong, wedge-shaped or rounded at the base and acute at apex, with a serrated margin and an acuminate apex; they do not suggest the popular idea of a holly, with no spines or bristles.

The leaves turn yellow before dropping in late autumn. The flowers are 4–5 mm diameter, with a four-lobed white corolla, appearing in late spring when the leaves are more than half grown. The fruit is a spherical bright red drupe 8-10 mm diameter, containing four seeds. Usually these berries are orange-red, but red and yellow forms are sometimes seen. They are more oblong than the berries of most hollies. The bark of the tree is an attractive reddish-brown, and its leaves generally turn yellow before dropping in late autumn. As with other hollies, a plant is either male or female, and a female won't produce berries unless a male is nearby. This is a good choice for a semi-wild area in open woods.

Because the sexes of young plants are difficult to determine, you should plant at least four or five specimens and hope that some are female. Actually, one male can normally pollinate several females, but in most cases you won't know the sex distribution when you do the planting. Holly berries are consumed by many bird species, including Wild Turkey, Bluebirds, Catbirds, Mockingbirds, Robins, Thrushers, Blue Jays, Cedar Waxwings, and Thrashers. White-tailed Deer eat the foliage and twigs.