Dahoon Holly
Ilex cassine
Plant Family: Aquifoliaceae
Leaves: Alternate, simple, oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, shiny, green above, whitish green below, apices may have a sharp bristle, to 8 cm; some of the leaves may be lightly toothed on the upper margins.
Bark: Light gray, smooth, becoming lightly fissured on older trees.
Flowers: Dioecious, small, white, with 4 petals, either solitary or in short-stalked clusters along the branches from late spring into summer.
Fruits: A stalked green drupe, ripening to an attractive bright red (sometimes yellow), to 1 cm, borne along the branches of the female trees and persisting for many weeks, starting in the fall. The fruits are attractive to birds and small mammals.
Habitat: Fairly common in wet hammocks, swamps, and wetland edges, yet is drought tolerant once established, for example, in depressions in the pinelands.
Growth Form: A small shrubby tree, often with 2 or 3 narrow trunks.
Similar Species: Tawnyberry Holly (Ilex krugiana) also has elliptic leaves, but they usually lack teeth or bristled apices and the fruits ripen to purple-black; it is also uncommon, found only in certain Everglades hammocks.
Comments: Dahoon Holly is found in wetlands throughout Florida, except on the Keys.
