Native plants for a Cape Cod garden

Ilex opaca (holly shrub or tree) is fairly prevalent on Cape Cod. I have two cultivated specimens and a few that have propagated naturally. Long Pasture, which is not too far from where I live, has some very nice mature (ok, old) examples of this plant. The most striking features are the obvious evergreen foliage and the fire engine red berries. The tiny white flowers are quite beautiful, but you have to get up and personal with the plant to notice them.

Ilex opaca is native to the Southeastern U.S. and most of the U.S. states on the Atlantic Coast. The plants are dioecious, which means that there are male and female plants, and both need to be in some proximity to one another for there to be berries. I have berries on all of the plants in my yard, which means they are all female. I don’t know where the nearest male holly is to be found, but my plants are bearing the fruit of its efforts, so to speak. Ilex opaca likes acidic soil conditions, which are not hard to find on the Cape. Incidentally, you will find the plant among oak trees, because this is another indicator species of acidic soil. I’ll use this opportunity to debunk the myth that some leaves or needles, from oak and pine, cause the soil to become acidic – oaks are just efficient gatherers of nutrients in poor quality soils, and pine needles are actually fairly pH neutral.

Holly flowering May 14 2011

Besides bringing green to a garden year-round, Ilex opaca is used in Christmas decorations. There are some other uses for the leaves – herbalists use them to treat fever and other ailments. However, unless you’re a bird, stay away from the berries! They will cause vomiting soon after they are swallowed. They are great winter food for wild turkeys, bobwhites, mourning doves, and others.