WINTERBERRY

WINTERBERRY MALE POLLINATOR SHRUB

WINTERBERRY FEMALE SHRUB BEARING  FRUIT

WINTERBERRY FRUIT

Saturday, 9:00 AM.  55 degrees farrenheit at the ferry dock, 53 on the back porch.  Wind N, mostly calm.  The sky has a very low overcast and it is raining lightly, the humidity 94%.  The barometer is still dropping, now at 29.48".  The coming week will be cooler and drier.
   Winterberry, Ilex verticillata, in the Holly Family (Aquifoliaceae) is a deciduous holly native to southeastern Canada and the eastern US west to Minnesota and south to Alabama.  It is typically found in wet area but on sands and grasslands as well.  I have seen it growing in the Wisconsin River floodplain near Wausau.
   There are a number of selections of the native species, those shown being 'Red Sprite', the female plant with the berries, and 'Jim Dandy,' the fruitless male pollinator. Hollies are dioecious shrubs, the male and female flowers growing on separate plants. At least one pollinator shrub must be planted to produce fruit.
   Although the winterberries lose their leaves in fall, the berries are long lasting and very decorative, and add much winter interest to the landscape and the garden.  They are a great shrub for the rain garden.
   The winterberry bark is high in tannin, and has medicinal astringent qualities. The berries are cathartic and mildly toxic, but are eaten by birds.