Mostly a southern tree, but has been making its way northward due to its fruits' popularity with birds (Harlow, 1957).
American Holly is dioecious (meaning each tree is either male or female). The leaves are evergreen, leathery, glabrous, and dark green above. They have spiny-toothed margins. Bright red fruits (drupes) persist through the winter.
Most abundant on the Coastal Plain, in moist, sandy woodlands (Brown and Brown, 1972).
The fruits are eaten by a wide variety of birds.
The lichen Trypethelium virens often grows on American Holly in Maryland. Host plant for various species of moth including Holly Sallow Moth and members of the genus Rhopobota. Leaves are frequently mined by larvae of the leaf-mining flies Phytomyza opacae and Phytomyza ilicicola.
There are 2,036 records in the project database.
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