Ilex montana, the mountain winterberry (or "mountain holly" which is more typically Ilex mucronata), is a species of holly native to the Eastern United States, ranging along the Appalachian Mountains from southeast Massachusetts to northeast Alabama and northern Georgia. Synonyms include Ilex monticola.[2]
| Ilex montana | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Aquifoliales |
| Family: | Aquifoliaceae |
| Genus: | Ilex |
| Species: | I. montana
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| Binomial name | |
| Ilex montana | |
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| Natural range | |
Description
editIlex montana is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 9–12 metres (30–39 ft) tall. The leaves are 3–9 cm long and 2–5 cm broad, light green, ovate or oblong, wedge-shaped or rounded at the base and acute at apex, with a serrated margin and an acuminate apex; they do not suggest the popular idea of a holly, with no spines or bristles. The leaves turn yellow before dropping in late autumn.[3]
The flowers are 4–5 mm diameter, with a four-lobed white corolla, appearing in late spring when the leaves are more than half grown. The fruit is a spherical bright red drupe 8–10 mm diameter, containing four seeds.[4][5][6]
Taxonomy
editIt is treated by some botanists as a variety of the related Ilex ambigua (Sand Holly), as I. ambigua var. monticola;[7] the two are sometimes mistaken for each other in the U.S. southeastern coastal plain. The Latin specific epithet montana refers to mountains or coming from mountains.[8]
References
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- ^ IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group.; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; et al. (BGCI) (2020). "Ilex montana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T130046686A156820729. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T130046686A156820729.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ USDA: Ilex montana
- ^ Tree Trail article on Ilex montana
- ^ Brooklyn Botanic Garden: Ilex montana
- ^ Krakow, G. (1989). Key to Ilex (page 152), in Leonard E. Foote & Samuel B. Jones Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast.
- ^ Keeler, H. L. (1900). Our Native Trees and How to Identify Them. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 45.
- ^ Institute for Systematic Botany (Florida): Ilex ambigua var. montana
- ^ Archibald William Smith A Gardener's Handbook of Plant Names: Their Meanings and Origins, p. 239, at Google Books