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Is this Ilex Opaca ?

6 years ago

Hello Everyone - I found this growing amongst my China Girl Holly this afternoon and I'm looking to transplant it. I'm thinking this is an American Holly ? It certainly looks like it but I would like to get another opinion for I move it. Thank you

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Comments (4)

Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
6 years ago
Sure looks like it! Where is this growing? I have opacas come up all over my beds and remove them, but they grow wild in woods.
zooba72
Original Author
6 years ago
Hi - I'm located on Long Island, NY. This just popped up amongst several China Girl Holly and I'm thinking about moving it to a better environment. In the nurseries around here, they're very expensive shrubs. Thank you
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My goodness. I might have to buy a Nellie Stevens and carry it next to mine to see the differences. So far my best moment identifying plants was with Fraxinus family ash trees. The "U" shaped bud of the Fraxinus Americana white ash helped me out. Anything similar I should be looking for? The foliage is too variable. My two identical Holly of some kind trees both bloomed lightly last year. Neither has ever had a berry. Bloom time this year is soo early. Of course March was the warmest in 130 year of record keeping. heard it would have been a top ten warm April! My plan is to hunt down dwarf/small varieties of both Ilex opaca and Ilex cornuta and hope I get lucky.
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It sure is it is growing in the Zone 6 part of SW MI in Benton Harbor. Not far from the lake. This is on the edge of one of the pockets where hollies, rhodo's and azaleas seem to thrive. Certain areas you see pretty nice specimens. Not sure what dictates this but it is evident as you drive around the area. You must be familiar with our area/growing conditions. Happy Gardening
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Interesting. So I have been watching the fruity one for 3 years now, and it seems to have that yellowish tinge every year. I just thought it was its natural color. It does seem to have a lighter colored leaf even in summer. Below are some pix I've taken at different times of year. (Yes, I'm obsessed with the stupid tree :-). We did have a dry late summer, maybe that contributed. But on the other hand - look at the foliage color difference between the two hollies even in summer: 2016-11-12: 2017-01-12: 2017-08-16: 2019-05-22
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American Holly can actually grow in a lot colder zones than people realize. I have several small ones I am growing here in Iowa zone 5 with no problem. On really cold winters it gets down to -30 to -35. Of course those are the extremes, the average hits -15 to -20. I originally moved here from PA and they were very common out there. One of the most beautiful trees in the winter. Ilex Opaca is very hard to find in the nursery trade. You can check out Forrest Farm or Holly Ridge Nursery. There is a Nursery in Butler, PA called Orlando Pride Nursery where they bred several cultivars to take heavy snow loads and put up with the extreme cold.
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Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
6 years ago
I think I. opaca is expensive because it grows more slowly than many of the commercial holly hybrids. Not a whole lot of demand for them, except maybe for some of the noted cultivars of opaca, like 'Satyr Hill', which has larger glossier leaves, is female and bears lots of beautiful red berries.
zooba72
Original Author
6 years ago
I think you're right and that makes perfect sense. The reason I'm prepared to rescue this is because it's one of the more deer resistant holly varieties. They seem to be feasting on my China Girl Holly despite it being categorized as "deer resistant". Thank you for the response.

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