Ilex

The only native U.S. holly with both spiny green leaves and bright red berries — an upright, pyramidal, broadleaf evergreen tree that slowly matures to 15-30 feet in cultivation (to 50 feet in the wild). Thick, leathery, deep green leaves bear spiny marginal teeth, and pollinated female trees carry showy red-to-orange drupes that ripen in fall and persist through winter as bird food. This is the classic "Christmas holly" of wreaths and decorations.

A native deciduous holly of eastern North America grown for brilliant red berries that persist on bare stems through fall and winter — feeds songbirds and small mammals when little else is producing. Dioecious: one male pollinizer is required within 50 feet for every 10-20 female plants.