Scientific Name: Ilex aquifolium
Common Name: English holly
Family Name: Aquifoliaceae
Origin: Africa, Central / west Asia, Europe
Hardiness Zone: Zone 7: (-18 to -12 °C)
Plant Type: Broadleaf evergreen, Invasive plant
Mature Size: 10 - 15m x 7 - 10m (height x width)
Habit: Upright
Form: Pyramidal - narrowly
Texture: Medium - coarse
Landscape Uses: Hedge row, Screening, Security/barrier
Exposure: Full sun, Part sun/part shade
Soil or Media: Acidic, Well-drained
Leaves: Simple, Alternate, Leathery, Pinnate venation, Glabrous, Lustrous, Elliptic, Ovate, Undulate (wavy)
Flowers: Cyme, White, Mar-Apr
Fruit: Drupe, Red, Sep-Oct, (Persistent)
Key ID Features:
Dioecious evergreen tree with dense pyramidal form or one of several common shrubby cultivars; leaves alternate, most ovate elliptic, 2-5cm long x 1-3cm wide, leathery, lustrous, dark green, margins entire to highly spiney, lighter green underside; cymes axillary, florets 12-14mm wide, in axillary, 4 white petals, only the male or female plants fully form; drupes bright red, nearly round, most 7-9mm wide, persistent.