| Mountain Holly | |
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Mountain Holly A medium-sized shrub with frequent branching. Bark: Ashy-gray or greenish. Twigs: Smooth, purplish-brown with many small, white lenticels. Leaves: Alternate, oblong to elliptical, smooth and thin, 2.5-8 cm long. Entire or rarely toothed, usually with a short, sharp point. Light yellowish-green when full grown. Purplish leafstalk is 0.6 – 2 cm long. Leaves turn yellow or brown in autumn. Flowers: Small, 6 mm across, yellowish, 4- or 5-petaled, solitary or in clusters (often 5) and borne on slender stalks arising from the leaf axils. Male and female flowers usually on separate plants, but may be on the same plant. Blooms in June. Fruit: Dull red or pale yellow drupes with a bluish bloom, about 6 mm in diameter, containing 4 or 5 nutlets and borne on slender stalks. Not considered edible. Ripen by mid-August. Habitat: Damp thickets, swamps, bogs and wet woods, and in more exposed habitats such as heaths. Found throughout Newfoundland but is rare on Northern Peninsula. Not found in Labrador. Source:
Native Trees and Shrubs Used
with permission from
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