PlantFiles: Possum Haw Holly, Possumhaw, Deciduous Holly
Ilex decidua

Easily grown, BUT berries only on female plants. Of 25 I planted, only 2 were girls!!! Will try softwood cuttings...

Hi there, does anyone have experience of cutting a Possumhaw right back, so that only 10inch branch stumps remain? Would a Possumhaw eventually sprout from these branch stumps, and would this happen in the first Spring after pruning?

I saw this shrub at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden last week and offered great winter interest in the snowy landscape. Has anyone ever had success with this plant in Maine? I'd like to try it.

Native possumhaw also grows quite well in our alkaline soils (developed on Cretaceous chalk) in NE Mississippi. Our 30+ acres of pasture, fencerow forest and seasonal wetlands have thriving specimens in every light condition from deep shade to full sun. They're flourishing in our whole gamut of soil water conditions, from moderately dry to downright waterlogged. Even without heavy berrying, its gumdrop-tree growth habit and silvery bark are gorgeous in the winter.

There are at least half a dozen native possumhaw hollies on our 36 acres, mostly along the fence rows. Our place is predominantly pasture - and our soils are quite alkaline, not acidic. Even without berries, their light bark and graceful habit make them a winter delight. Berrying here seems to be related to nutrient competition from other plants; those I've been able to clear around for a meter or so produce many berries, but those with many similar-sized midstory plants and vines crowding it don't berry well. Competition for sun is not the limiting factor, as I first discovered ours by the bright red berries in deep shade at the margins of a shallow bog. All that I've found here since then are at least partially shaded by cedars, water hickory, red oak, and mock orange.

Our house came with two mature clumps along the back fence, probably volunteers. They are one of the best features of the back yard, with their multiple trunks and arching branches. In the winter, the red berries outline the bare branches, in contract with their evergreen cousins, yaupon holly. At 20', they nestle nicely under the canopy of my neighbor's live oak and pecan.

I always look forward to this time of year so I can see the lovely berries of these bushes along fence lines & woodland edges. There is a heavy crop of the berries this year. I have seen the orange fruited ones in the wild in this area. I have also seen the rare yellow one growing in the wild here but it does not set fruit every year like the reds one tend to do. This plant should be utilized more for it has a wonderful sculptural quality in the cold months & many times, it weeps over in a wonderful way and adds so much to the landscape.

A good native tree for the Deep South for winter color and to attract birds. It loses its leaves at the first hint of real cold (usually late December in New Orleans, Louisiana) to reveal stems covered in red berries. I've read that there are orange berried cultivars available, but I've never seen them.