Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center


Home	About NPWRC	Our Science	Staff	Employment	Contacts	Common Questions	About the Site

Southern Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Yaupon
Ilex vomitoria Ait.

JPG -- Species Photo GIF -- Distribution Map

Family: Holly (Aquifoliaceae)
Flowering: March-May
Field Marks: This species is distinguished from other evergreen hollies by its leaves that are finely toothed throughout their entire length and which are not spine-tipped.
Habitat: Swamps, low woods, steep ravines, scrub oak woodlands, hammocks, bluffs, coastal dunes, fencerows, flatwoods, along streams, floodplains.
Habit: Shrub, sprouting vigorously from the roots.
Stems: Woody, up to 24 feet tall; twigs with short hairs.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, evergreen, oblong to elliptic, rounded at the tip, rounded at the base, finely round-toothed along the edges, smooth, shiny, up to 1 1/2 inches long, up to 3/4 inch wide; leaf stalks hairy, up to 1/8 inch long.
Flowers: Male and female flowers borne on the same plant; male flowers 2-3 clustered in the axils of the leaves; female flowers 1-3 in the axils of the leaves.
Sepals: 4, green, free from each other, rounded at the tip.
Petals: 4, white, free from each other.
Stamens: 4.
Pistils: Ovary superior.
Fruits: Drupes red, spherical, shiny, up to 1/4 inch in diameter, containing 4 nutlets.
Notes: This species often forms dense thickets.

Previous Species -- Ink-berry (Ilex glabra)
Return to Species List -- Group 5
Next Species -- Virginia Willow (Itea virginica)

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/floraso/species/5/ilexvomi.htm
Page Contact Information: Webmaster
Page Last Modified: Thursday, 03-Aug-2006 11:39:25 EDT
Sioux Falls, SD [sdww54]