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There are about 480deciduousand evergreen species of hollies.
Holly plants respond well to pruning and many types may be pruned into topiary or green fences.
All hollies are toxic to humans and pets.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Here are 18 of the most common types of holly plants.
The two hollies are similar in appearance with spiny-toothed leaves and an abundance of red berries.
If you only have room for one American holly tree, look for the ‘Croonenburg’ variety.
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It is self-pollinating with male and female flowers on the same plant.
If you prefer yellow fruit, choose the ‘Canary’ variety.
There is also a female form of American holly with yellow fruit, namedIlex opacaf.xanthocarpa.
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It grows well in sandy soils.
In August or September, it produces bright red fruits.
The exfoliating lustrous dark brown to black bark still provides some winter interest.
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The smooth green leaves are spineless.
The satiny, fleshy red fruit is dangling at the end of long stems called peduncles.
Chinese Holly
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Chinese holly is an evergreen shrub or small tree.
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Once established, it is drought-tolerant.
The hairless leaves are leathery and waxy in texture and exceptionally shiny.
The small, yellowish-green flowers are inconspicuous but have a nice fragrance.
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This is an excellent choice for a pruned privacy hedge.
This slow-growing shrub with a rounded upright growth habit readily suckers and spreads to form large thickets.
These small broadleaf evergreen trees are naturally found in swampy areas.
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They have bright red berries and glossy, spineless dark green leaves.
It is a slow-growing, densely branched tree with an erect, pyramidal growth habit.
Let it grow to its full height or prune into a 10 or 15-foot hedge.
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Finetooth Holly
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This semi-evergreen holly stands out by its cold hardiness.
It resembles winterberry (Ilex vertillcata) but the berries are smaller and it is semi-evergreen, not deciduous.
Some of the leaves remain through the winter.
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It grows in wet forests and open bogs.
In the landscape, it needs a spot with consistent moisture.
It can be grown as a large shrub or small tree.
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The oval-shaped leaves are dark green and spineless.
Unlike the flowers of other hollies, the white flowers of the Hawaiian holly are showy.
The fruit is purple-black.
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This slow-growing broadleaf evergreen holly has a rounded to upright growth habit.
Most cultivars of the inkberry produce black fruit on the female plants, hence the name inkberry.
But there are also cultivars with white fruit, including ‘Ivory Queen’ and ‘Leucocarpa’.
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The leaves on this species do not have spines.
This plant is prone to developing suckers which should be removed regularly to control the spread.
Its leaves resemble those of boxwood shrubs.
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The fruit produced is black and not as distinct as others in the genus.
An exception is ‘Sky Pencil’ with erect, parallel branches that can be used to create aliving fence.
Japanese holly is considered invasive in some areas.
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Longstalked holly is one of the most cold-hardy hollies.
The glossy leaves are spineless and resemble mountain laurel.
The flowers in the spring are inconspicuous but have a pleasant fragrance.
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This holly is a good choice for urban locations since it handles pollution and salt well.
They are large, 4 to 8 inches long.
serrated, and leathery.
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With its dense, pyramidal growth habit, this holly can be grown as a shrub or small tree.
adding color the the landscape.
Myrtle-Leaf Holly
What makes this native holly stand out is that it tolerates wet and shady locations.
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It is also moderately salt-tolerant.
With its pretty red and yellow berries, the plant is especially attractive in the fall and winter.
Round-Leaf Holly
The leathery foliage of the large round-leaf holly does not have spines.
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It produces large clusters of bright red berries in the fall and early winter.
It is a vigorously growing, dense shrub with glossy, blue-green leaves.
There are many different cultivars, varying in size, shape, and sometimes also hardiness.
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Popular varieties include ‘China Girl’ with a mounding growth habit and’Blue Princess'.
The female plants have glossy bright red berries.
It is also drought-tolerant.
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Yaupon holly is often planted as an informal hedge shrub or privacy screen since it requires minimal shaping.
It produces fragrant small greenish-white flowers in the late fall and early winter.
It takes a new tree a few years to reach the harvest stage.
Commercial growers only harvest the foliage every other year so that the tree retains enough leaves for proper growth.
Yerba mate is also suitable to be grown indoors in pots.
More Info on Holly Bushes
Holly.
North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension.
Ilex crenata (Japanese Holly).North Carolina State University Extension
Ilex pedunculosaMissouri Botanical Garden.
