Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria)

Yaupon Holly

Ilex vomitoria

Other Common Names: Yaupon

Top Pick: A remarkably adaptable North Texas native evergreen that provides year-round structure, excellent bird habitat, and bright red fruit on female plants.

Quick Plant Info

• ☀️ Light: Full Sun to Shade
• 💧 Water: Low to Medium
• 🌿 Type: Evergreen Shrub / Small Tree
• 📏 Mature Size: Approximately 10–20 ft tall × 8–12 ft wide

Description

One of our most versatile native evergreen shrubs for both wildlife habitat and designed landscapes.

Yaupon Holly is a dense evergreen shrub or small tree with small, glossy dark-green leaves and remarkable adaptability. It can be maintained as a hedge or screen, allowed to develop naturally as a large shrub, or trained into an attractive multi-trunked small tree.

Small white flowers appear in spring and attract visiting insects. Female plants that are successfully pollinated produce abundant red berries that mature in fall and can persist into winter, providing an important food source for birds.

🌼 Why it works

• Native to North Texas
• Evergreen foliage provides year-round structure
• Excellent screening and hedge plant
• Provides food, cover, and nesting habitat for birds
• Extremely adaptable to different light conditions
• Drought tolerant once established
• Tolerates pruning and shaping well
• Works in both wildlife-focused and formal landscapes

🐦 Wildlife value

Yaupon Holly is an excellent bird-habitat plant. Female plants produce berries eaten by numerous bird species, while the dense evergreen foliage provides valuable year-round cover and potential nesting sites.

Its spring flowers also provide resources for bees and other visiting insects.

🌱 Where it thrives

Few native shrubs are as adaptable as Yaupon Holly. It grows in full sun, part shade, or shade and tolerates a wide range of landscape conditions. Plants generally develop their densest growth and heaviest fruit production with adequate sunlight.

• Wildlife gardens
• Privacy screens
• Native hedges
• Foundation and structural plantings
• Woodland edges and understory gardens
• Designed native landscapes

Soil: Adaptable to a wide range of soils, including clay and sandy soils. Established plants tolerate both periodic moisture and dry conditions.

✂️ Growth & maintenance

Yaupon Holly responds well to pruning and can be maintained as a formal hedge, shaped shrub, or small tree. Plants may produce suckers from the base or roots; these can be retained for a dense screen or removed to maintain a more defined form.

💧 Water (establishment note)

Water regularly during establishment. Once established, Yaupon Holly is drought tolerant, although occasional supplemental water during prolonged drought will support stronger growth.

Important Notes

Yaupon Holly has separate male and female plants. Only female plants produce berries, and a compatible male plant must be growing nearby for pollination. Unless plants have been propagated from known male or female material, the sex of young plants may not be apparent until they flower.

Pickup Information

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