American holly (Ilex opaca) is also known as Christmas Holly, Prickly Holly, Evergreen Holly, Holly, Yule Holly, and White Holly. It is the state tree of Delaware. American Holly is the largest holly and can become a small tree to a height of 40-70 ft and 1 ft diameter. The bark is light or dark gray and smooth, with occasional wart-like protuberances on old trees. The leaves are evergreen (persist for about 3 years), and the blades are oval, tough and leathery, 2-4" long, and 0.8-1.6" wide. The blades are dark shining green above, yellow green below, have wavy margins with sharp stiff spines (rarely absent), with a rounded base, and a spinose apex. Male and female flowers are on separate trees and have 4 white, rounded petals. The male flower has one white stamen at each notch between the petals and a hole in the center. The female flower has a small, green, rounded pistil in the center and sterile stamens.
The fruit is red (sometimes orange or more rarely yellow), 3/8" diameter and appears from November to December and clings until spring. The wood is tough, high shock resistant, close-grained, not durable under exposure, and rather heavy (46 lb per cu ft). The wood is nearly white when first cut, turning brown with age and exposure, with thick, and rather lighter colored sapwood. It is used for cabinets, interior finish, novelties, handles, fixtures, scientific instruments, tannery, piano keys, ship models, and inlays. I don’t know if the room nor the building are still around, but I remember in the late 60’s a room in the forestry building on the LSU campus that the walls were paneled with American holly wood and it was a beautiful white. The dried leaves make a great tea and have been a popular tea, sometimes the most popular tea during the plant id workshops. The branches are used for Christmas decorations. At least eighteen
species of birds eat the fruit. Wild turkeys sometime feed on the berries in treetops as well as on the ground. The flowers are a valuable source of nectar. The leaves are browsed by cattle. Caterpillars of the striped hairstreak plus six moth species Episemasia solitaria, Hyphantria cunea, Metaxaglaea violacea, Orgyia leucostigma, Rhopobota dietziana, and Schizura unicornis are reported to eat the leaves of American holly. Lots of American holly on Allen Acres and we have given some away and still have more to share. I also have one yellow fruited plant from SFA gardens and can share cuttings if you want to try to root. The regular red fruited species is reported from 45 parishes in Louisiana.