Ilex baltimore

Species is dioecious male and female flowers are on separate trees. Greenish-white flowers bloom May-June male flowers in flowered clusters and female flowers solitary or in 2s or 3s. Birds love the fruit. Genus name comes from the Latin name Quercus ilex for holm oak in reference to the foliage similarities holm oak and many of the shrubs in the genus Ilex have evergreen leaves.

Specific epithet means opaque or dull, in reference to the non-lustrous leaf surfaces of species plants many of the cultivars have more lustrous foliage. May grow slightly taller but is easily kept compact through regular pruning. Potential insect problems include holly leaf miner, spider mites, whitefly and scale. Potential disease problems include leaf spot, leaf rot, tar spot and powdery mildew.

Plants are also susceptible to leaf drop, leaf scorch and chlorosis yellowing of leaves in high pH soils. Specimen or group. Foundation planting. Foliage provides excellent color for the winter landscape, and cuttings of the same are popular additions to Christmas wreaths and decorations. Berries are attractive and a good winter food source for birds. Woodland gardens. Missouri Botanical Garden. Butterfly House. Shaw Nature Reserve.

Fruit Gardening Vegetable Gardening. Ilex opaca 'Maryland Dwarf'. Back to Previous Page. Common Name: American holly. Type: Broadleaf evergreen. Family: Aquifoliaceae. Height: 2. Spread: 3. Bloom Time: May. Bloom Description: Greenish-white.

The plant bears heavy wands of bright red fruit, even when young. The foliage is a deep glossy green with pronounced marginal spines. National Arboretum and selected in The juvenile foliage features tiny, spinose leaves and pistillate female flowers, followed by small red fruit. As the plant matures, its leaves may morph into a strikingly different form with spineless margins, and the plant may produce staminate male flowers. Its leaves typically bear three spines near the apex, but unlike other Chinese hollies, rarely have basal horns.

It will mature into a rounded shrub with occasional red fruit. Mobjack Nurseries introduced and registered this cultivar HSA , and has donated the plants for distribution. Test Holly for one of two - Ilex 'Cherry Bomb' 'Cherry Bomb' is a nearly spineless holly with large red berries, the result of a controlled cross between Ilex 'Nellie R.

Stevens' and Ilex integra made by William F. Kosar at the U. National Arboretum before The plant's originators designated it NA , but never formally named or released it. However, a few trial plants were grown at public gardens and universities, mostly in the south, where the merits of this unusual hybrid gradually became apparent.

The plant was introduced to the nursery trade in Texas as 'Cherry Bomb', and while it has become a popular landscaping plant there, its hardiness remains largely unknown. The plant bears oblong red fruit. It forms an upright, dense pyramidal tree with narrow, dark green leaves and red fruit.

The plant produces abundant flowers over a long blooming period. Registered in Test Holly for one of four - Ilex cornuta x pernyi 'Hugger' This male hybrid holly originated as a chance seedling, discovered by Charles Anderson in in his holly nursery in Owings Mills, Maryland.

It is an excellent pollinator with very dark green foliage and an upright, pyramidal growth habit. Test Holly for two of four - Ilex cornuta x ciliospinosa 'B' This female holly is a cross of Ilex cornuta and I. L Ackerman and J. Creech, but never formally named or introduced. The plant grows into an upright pyramid with glossy, quadrangular green leaves.

It bears heavy clusters of red fruit on old wood.