Possumhaw
Ilex decidua
A native deciduous holly whose bare winter branches glow with red to orange berries that feed songbirds, a lovely winter accent. It adapts to many soils in sun or part shade and copes with occasional flooding, so it suits rain gardens and stream banks. Only females fruit, and they need a male nearby.
- Mature size
- 15 × 10 ft
- 4.5 × 3 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 5a–9b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade
- Water
- Medium to moist
- Blooms
- Apr
Possumhaw at its mature size
A mature Possumhaw grows 7 to 30 feet tall and 5 to 12 feet wide, taller than most people.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Through the year
What Possumhaw looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Fruit · Oct–Mar
Bare gray branches lined with orange-red berries.
Dormant · Apr
Bare gray branches leafing out.
In leaf · May–Sep
Glossy dark green leaves, berries ripening.
Photos
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Growing Possumhaw
- Grows well in
- The Southeast and the Plains and Mountain West.
- Good for
- Hedge, small space, rain garden, pollinators, and winter interest
- Leaves
- Drops its leaves in winter
- Native to
- Southeastern and South-central United States
Spacing for a hedge
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Possumhaw, that’s about 10 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Possumhaw in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.
Other hollies
Dragon Lady Holly
Possumhaw
Golden Oakland HollyAll drawn to the same scale.