''Ilex mucronata'', the mountain holly or catberry, is a species of

holly ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to Minnesota, and south to Maryland and West Virginia.

Taxonomy

It was formerly treated in its own monotypic genus as ''Nemopanthus mucronatus'' (L.) Loes., known as "false holly", but transferred to ''Ilex'' on molecular data; it is closely related to ''

Ilex amelanchier ''Ilex amelanchier'', the swamp holly or sarvis holly, is a rare species of holly from the southeastern United States. It is a close relative of mountain holly (''Ilex mucronata'') which used to be placed in a monotypic genus ''Nemopanthus''. ' ...

''.

Description

''Ilex mucronata'' is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

growing to 3 m (rarely 4 m) tall (or 6 to 10 feet high from the "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants" by Dr. Michael Dirr.) The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are alternate, simple, elliptic to oblong, (1 to 2.5" long and 3/4's as wide) 1.5–7 cm long and 1–3 cm broad, with an entire or finely serrated margin and an acute apex, and a 0.5–2 cm (1/4 to 1/2" long) petiole. The tiny

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s about 1/5" in diameter with 4 to 5 petals are inconspicuous, whitish to greenish-yellow, produced on slender peduncles 25 mm or more long; it is usually

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

, with male and female flowers on separate plants. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is a red

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

6–7 mm (1/4 to 1/3") diameter containing three to five pits.

Habitat

The plant does best in full sun, or part shade is good. It usually grows in moist or draining wet acid soils, often with the similar species of Common Winterberry, ''Ilex verticillata'', but is also found on upland cliffs and slopes on hills and mountains. It develops a yellow autumn color. It is recommended for use in naturalistic landscapes. Its USDA hardiness zone recommendation is zones 4 to 6. The name "mountain holly" is also sometimes used for the related mountain winterberry (''

Ilex montana ''Ilex montana'', the mountain winterberry (or "mountain holly" which is more typically '' Ilex mucronata''), is a species of holly native to the Eastern United States, ranging along the Appalachian Mountains from southeast Massachusetts to north ...

'').

Gallery

Image:Ilex_mucronata_flowers_NB_RT.jpg, Female flowers in New Brunswick Image:Ilex mucronata Harc.jpg, Fruit.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5997691 mucronata Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America) Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of Michigan Flora of Maryland Flora of West Virginia Flora of New Jersey Flora without expected TNC conservation status