Ilex integra

Ilex integra is the holly for people who do not think they like hollies, an evergreen tree from Japan whose leaves carry no spines at all. The dark green foliage is smooth-edged, glossy, and thick, giving a clean, almost magnolia-like calm, and on female trees the show comes in fall and winter, when bright red berries gather along the branches against the deep green.

The botanical name marks the difference: integra means entire or undivided, for those untoothed, spineless leaves. In Japan the tree is the mochi-no-ki, the mochi tree, a name that reaches past the garden into old craft, for the sticky inner bark was long boiled down into torimochi, the birdlime once smeared on branches to catch small birds and insects. The same tree has been planted at shrines as a sacred tree, valued as much for meaning as for beauty.

Native to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the milder middle of China, Ilex integra grows slowly into a dense, upright small tree, in time reaching twenty to thirty feet. The plant favors the mild, humid conditions of the coastal Southeast, thriving in fertile, well-drained soil in sun or part shade, and rewards patience with a tidy, year-round evergreen presence.

Slow, clean, and handsome, the mochi tree suits a formal garden, a courtyard, an evergreen screen, or a specimen spot near an entry where the red winter berries can be enjoyed. The spineless leaves make the tree friendly to brush against, an advantage along a path or a seating area. Set a male holly within range for the fullest berry set, and pair the tree with camellias, fatsia, and other broadleaf evergreens for a quiet, layered planting.