Ilex opaca (female) 'Selected Red'

Ilex opaca, the American holly, is the classic evergreen holly of eastern woods, a medium tree with tough, spine-edged, leathery leaves and the bright red berries that have meant Christmas for generations. 'Selected Red' is one of the good ones, a female clone Woodlanders propagated from a group of hollies planted many years ago in Aiken, South Carolina, chosen for very good foliage and an abundant crop of bright red fruit.

What sets this clone apart is the form. 'Selected Red' grows into a dense, pyramidal tree with a slight, graceful weep to the branches, a softer silhouette than the stiff pyramids of many American hollies, and the habit is close enough to the old variety 'Croonenburg' that the two may be one and the same. Dense to the base and evergreen, the tree reads as a solid green cone all year, then lights up with red in fall.

The name opaca means dull or opaque, for the matte, un-lacquered surface of the American holly leaf, which sets the species apart from the glossy Asian and English hollies. Native across the eastern United States, from Massachusetts to Florida and west to Texas, American holly grows on well-drained woodland soils and ranks among the most widely planted native evergreens, valued for form, winter berries, and the birds the fruit feeds.

As a female, 'Selected Red' needs a male American holly in range to set that heavy red crop, so pair the tree with a pollinizer such as 'Jersey Knight' nearby. Slow and long-lived, the plant makes a fine specimen, a tall evergreen screen, or a woodland-edge anchor, in full sun to part shade and moist, acidic, well-drained soil. The berried branches are a natural for holiday greenery, and the winter fruit feeds songbirds when little else is left.