Yaupon Holly / Ilex vomitoria
Family: Holly / Aquifoliaceae
Characteristics: Yaupon Holly is a broadleaf evergreen tree with medium-fine texture and fast growth rate. It has a graceful, attractive, irregular form, sometimes rounded, other times pyramidal. It tends to be multi-stemmed but can be easily pruned into a tree form. The bark is smooth gray. Shiny red fruit put on a brilliant display in fall until they are consumed by birds. Fruit only occurs on female plants.
Landscape uses: Use Yaupon Holly as a specimen plant, or in hedges for screening. It is commonly used in landscapes because of its adaptability to a wide variety of sites, including sun or shade, wet and dry sites, and both acidic and alkaline soils.
Size: 12 to 20 feet high and 8 to 12 feet wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist soils, especially beaches, maritime forests, and sandhills of the Coastal Plain.
Native to: Virginia to central Florida, west to Texas and Oklahoma.
Comments: Cultivars are available, including weeping and dwarf forms.