Common Winterberry - Ilex verticillata

Aquifoliaceae - Holly family

A Year With the Trees tree No. 10

Common Winterberry

Ilex verticillata

Where to find:  At the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, North Carolina

The Common Winterberry is part of the family called Aquifoliaceae.  This family has three species that grow in the Appalachian Mountains.  Ilex montana, Ilex opaca, and Ilex verticilalta.

Aquifoliaceae is a family of about 400 species. Most all of these species belong to the genus Ilex, also known as the hollies. They are mostly evergreen trees or shrubs, though some are deciduous and lose their leaves seasonally. 

This family is characterized by having alternate, simple, and often evergreen leaves. This family has small flowers and berrylike drupes.  The flowers are dioecious.  This means that the male and female parts are on separate flowers and separate plants.  Drupes are fruits with a fleshy outer part and a seed inside, like a peach.

Winter:

buds and twigs, bark, fruit

36017 Ilex verticillata a photo by horticultural art on Flickr

The Common Winterberry tree is sometimes called a shrub and it has the word "common" in it.  However, it is anything but common.  I would have it call it beautiful.  It can grow up to 25 feet tall; however,  it is more common for this small tree to be closer to 12-15 feet tall.  The berries that stay on most of the year, are food for many species of wildlife; although, the berries are poisonous to humans.  The leaves are deciduous; so in the winter, the identifying feature is the small red berries.  The red berries usually have 6 seeds inside of them.  This small tree is said to be one of the most beautiful trees in the Southern Appalachians all winter long.

Thank you, Fred, for this incredible image.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/horticultural_art/

more Winter time tree observations

Common Winterberry

The shadows on the Winterberry tree that were cast by the low late afternoon sun caught my eye.  The berries are still on this tree.  The Winterberry tree that lives by my own house, at Priddy Woods, has had every single berry eaten away by a flock of Robins. The Robins came in one day and ate all the dogwood berries and the Winterberry tree berries.  Robins do not usually come visiting at Priddy Woods; perhaps they were migrating.    I do think a few Cardinals had their share of the berries as well.  I love watching the birds enjoy the berries of winter.  I always ponder if birds that have red in their feathers seem to eat more red berries...hummm.

Spring:
leaves, flowers, fruit

If you have an image of this tree in the spring, please send it to me at celerylady@gmail.com.  Thank you.

Summer:
leaves, fruit

The American Winterberry tree

This small tree grows up to 10 feet tall.  The leaves are deciduous with alternate leaves.  The leaves are around three inches long and 1 inch wide; they are elliptical with a pointed end.  The color of the leaves are dark green and the leaves have serrated margins.  The small white flowers will be on the trees soon.

Fall:
leaves, fruit

If you have an image of this tree in the fall, please send it to me at celerylady@gmail.com.  Thank you.

Becky