Ilex crenata
Common name:
Japanese Holly
Pronunciation:
I-leks kre-NAH-ta
Family:
Aquifoliaceae
Genus:
Type:
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon:
No
- Broadleaf evergreen shrub, 5-8 ft (1.5-2.5 m); except for true species, usually seen as a much branched shrub with a dense, rigid compact form. Stem normally green on currents season's growth. Leaves alternate, simple, crowded, short-stalked, elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 13-32 mm long, 6-16 mm wide, crenate-serrulate or serrulate, dark green above, dotted beneath with blackish clear or translucent glands. Dioecious - male and female plants; flowers small, 4-parted, white. Fruit glossy black, globose, 6 mm diam.
- Sun to part shade. Prefers light, moist, slightly acid soils. Withstands severe pruning.
- Hardy to USDA Zone (5) 6 Native to Japan, Korea.
- crenata: with shallow, rounded teeth, the leaves
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There are many cultivars, possibly 60 in the nursery trade, including:
- ‘Convexa’ - leaves roundish, convex above and concave below, female
- ‘Dwarf Pagoda’ - very compact, dense, rounded, irregular horizontal branching, small leaves
- ‘Green Island’ - open shrub, wider than tall, glossy leaves, male
- ‘Helleri’ - dwarf, low growing, mounded, wider than high
- 'Lemon Gem' - form like 'Helleri', but new leave yellow in spring then turning to lime green in summer
- ‘Northern Beauty’ - hardy compact shrub, glossy dark green leaves, male
- ‘Sky Pencil’ - very narrow, pole-shaped, to 6-8 ft (1.8-2.4 m), leaves glossy
- Oregon State Univ. campus: southeast corner of East Greenhouse, next to Buxus sempervirens.