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.

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Pigeonberry

Description
Scientific Name: Cornus alternifolia
Common Names: Pagoda Dogwood, Alternate-leaf Dogwood, Pigeonberry
Plant Type: Small deciduous tree.
Height: 10 to 15 feet. Reaches a maximum height of around 25 feet.
Native Habitat: Understory of mixed forests. Grow in acidic, organically rich, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade. Best performance occurs in cool summer climates. Give consistent moisture and mulch the root zone.
Native Range: Native to the eastern United States, especially northern regions.
Conservation Status: NatureServe lists Cornus alternifolia as Imperiled in Delaware, Florida, and Mississippi. Officially the species is classified as Endangered by Florida.
Cultivation: This plant is shade-tolerant, but will look and perform better in sunlight. Give it slightly-acid well-drained soil and water young plants during dry spells.
Related species: Argentea (sometimes listed as Variegata), the only commonly available variety is a rare form that difficult to propagate and therefore fetches a high price. There is a small, shrubby plant (up to 15 feet high) with layered branches and leaves, which are beautifully colored with a white border. Other nurseries begin to offer this choice in greater numbers.

Flowering Time: May to June.

Pagoda dogwood is a small tree, the undergrowth a large part of the eastern United States. It is its common name from its pagoda-like horizontal branch. An older name, Pigeonberry refers to the fruit that was once a favorite food of the now-extinct passenger pigeon. Its scientific epithet alternifolia, refers to the leaf pattern, changes differently than most dogwoods, along the stem. This plant blooms are not as showy as those of the common dogwood flowers, but they are still attractive. They are creamy or yellowish-white, very fragrant, and form clusters at the ends of the branches. The flowers are berries that gradually changes from green to red to blue-black, followed on red stems. These berries are a valuable food for birds and other wildlife.

The leaves can turn a beautiful reddish-purple before they fall in autumn. The color varies from tree to tree, and may partly depend on growth. The light brownish-gray bark, together with the interesting branching structure, give the plant respond in the winter. This species is found over much of the eastern United States, but there are small genetic differences between plants from different regions. For this reason, plants from a southern seed source is not grown well in the north and vice versa. Pagoda Dogwood is vulnerable to a range of diseases, including branch plagues and cancers. But the way seems to be resistant to dogwood anthracnose, which has killed over the past few years, many flowering dogwood.

Uses

Used as ornamental trees spring flowers are the best decorative feature. Plant as a specimen or in small groups on residential property in houses, near patios or in lawns. Also effective in shrub borders, woodland gardens, bird gardens or naturalized areas.

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Igiri Tree

Description
Scientific Names: Idesia polycarpa
Synonyms: Idesia Maximowicz
Common Names: Igiri Tree
Plant Type: Large-size deciduous tree.
Height: 40-60 feet.
Native Habitat: Hills and mountain forests above elevations of 2000 m above sea level. The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.
Native Range: Eastern Asia including China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.
Cultivation: Prefers a neutral to slightly acid loamy soil, but tolerates a chalky sub-soil if the top soil is deep. Succeeds in full sun or semi-shade. The dormant plant is hardy to about -15°c, though the tree is somewhat hardier if the wood is thoroughly ripened by a long hot summer. The young shoots in spring can be damaged by late frosts. A very ornamental plant. The flowers have a most delicious perfume, which can be wafted far and wide by warm breezes. Trees produce fruit regularly. Dioecious, male and female plants must be grown if fruit and seed is required. Female plants can produce some fruit in the absence of a male plant.
Flowering Time: June to July.

Idesia polycarpa is the single species in the Idesia genus (Flacourtiaceae family). Forms a very fast growing, deciduous shade tree, it's native to eastern Asia in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Talk about plant-size some records include; 6 years - 25 x 25 feet, 20 years - 50 x 30 feet, largest on record - 60 x 80 feet ( rarely over 50 feet with a trunk up to 2.8 feet wide). Excellent tree for large landscaping such as parks where trees can be massed for effect. The leaves are large, heart-shaped, 8–20 cm long and 7–20 cm broad, are very large and tropical looking . The foliage is bronze purple at first, turning glossy deep green above and blue-white beneath during summer, persisting very late into the fall though usually remaining green until falling. The attractive foliage is borne on red stalks.

 

The flowers are small, yellowish green, fragrant, and born in panicles 13–30 cm long, are followed by very attractive hanging clusters of bright-red berries during fall persisting well into winter. The berries are borne on female trees only so multiple trees are required for berry production. If used as a street tree, just a single or 2 males trees can pollinate the remainder of the block of trees. Some birds like the berries while others don't so the persistence of the berry crop may vary from year to year depending on bird populations.

The bark is also very attractive, smooth and very light gray. The Igiri Tree is hardy to about -15°c, though the tree is somewhat hardier if the wood is thoroughly ripened by a long hot summer in full sun preferring fertile, well drained acid loam (though tolerating alkaline or just about any soil). It's heat and drought tolerant and actually prefers hot humid summers. Very easy to grow, it is wind tolerant even in coastal areas and is virtually immune to insect pests and disease. The Igiri Tree is easy to transplant while dormant, small trees can even be transplanted bare root.

 

Uses
The fruit is edible either raw or cooked. The fruit is a many seeded berry with a pulpy flesh. Idesia polycarpa is occasionally grown as an ornamental tree in other temperate regions including Europe.

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