Plant: Dwarf Yaupon - Holly
Holly · Ilex vomitoria 'Nana'
Size: 1 gal
Light
Bloom
Mature size
More about this plant
Dwarf yaupon holly is a compact rounded evergreen shrub 3 to 5 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide, densely branched and fine textured, with small glossy dark green leaves that are yellow green when new. Small greenish white flowers open in spring and female plants carry red berries that are less showy than those of the species but persist to spring. It grows fast in sun or partial shade on almost any soil, tolerates deer, drought, salt and heavy pruning, and is easily kept as a low hedge, border, foundation planting or topiary specimen.
- Full Sun
- Grows to 5 ft tall and 6 ft wide
- Blooms in spring
- Hardy in USDA zones 7-9
- Evergreen foliage
- Native plant
Plant description
Dwarf yaupon holly is a compact rounded evergreen shrub 3 to 5 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide, densely branched and fine textured, with small glossy dark green leaves that are yellow green when new. Small greenish white flowers open in spring and female plants carry red berries that are less showy than those of the species but persist to spring. It grows fast in sun or partial shade on almost any soil, tolerates deer, drought, salt and heavy pruning, and is easily kept as a low hedge, border, foundation planting or topiary specimen.
- Flowers
- Small greenish white flowers appear in spring, solitary or in pairs, clustered on peduncles in the leaf axils.
- Foliage
- Alternate, simple, glossy dark green leaves one half to one and a half inches long; new growth has a yellow green tinge.
- Fruit
- Persistent red globose berry drupes, less common and less striking than those of the species, usually persist to spring.
- Bark & stems
- Very young stems are purplish and turn silvery gray with age; bark is thin, smooth and light gray to almost white, becoming scaly with age.
- Pruning
- Tolerates heavy pruning and shearing for hedges, screens or topiary. Suckers form thickets unless removed.
- Native range
- USA to Mexico; AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TX, VA
