BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Ilex decidua | Deciduous Holly 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Deciduous holly is a native, large shrub or small tree.  The average
maximum height at maturity is 33 feet (10 m) [8,10,42].  The bark is
smooth or slightly roughened [10,30].  The fruit is a four- to
seven-seeded berry [3].

The national champion (1981), located in South Carolina, is 3 feet
(9 m) in circumference and 42 feet (12.8 m) in height [8].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Deciduous holly produces abundant, light seeds that are dispersed by
frugivores.  In bottomland hardwood forests in Texas, first-year
seedling survivorship was good.  Seedling survival increases with
distance from a conspecific or sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) adult.
Deciduous holly seedlings grow slowly, about 0.4 to 0.8 inch (1-2 cm)
per year [37].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Deciduous holly is usually found on moist soils of floodplains, low
woodlands, wet thickets, and along streams.  It occurs infrequently on
well-drained wooded slopes or sandy pineland ridges [3,8,43].  It is
occasional in hydric hammocks in Florida [41].  It occurs in elevations
of up to 1,180 feet (360 m) throughout its distribution [4].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Deciduous holly is found in all successional stages.  It colonizes areas
that have been disturbed by fire, and it is found in old-growth
bottomland hardwood forests [27,25].

Deciduous holly was abundant in the third and fourth years after removal
of a young green ash (Fraxinus pensylvanica)-American elm (Ulmus
americana) stand [6].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Deciduous holly flowers from March to May [4].  The fruits ripen in
September and persist until the following spring [13].  Seedling
emergence occurs before spring canopy development in early February, and
continues through May [37].

Related categories for Species: Ilex decidua | Deciduous Holly