Yaupon Holly 'Pride of Houston'

Ilex vomitoria 'Pride of Houston'

A cultivar of the native Yaupon Holly know for its more upright, dense, and compact growth habit. 

Yaupon Holly is native to a variety of areas including sandy woods, dunes, open fields, forest edges and wet swamps. This is a thicket-forming, broadleaf evergreen shrub or small tree that typically grows upright. Often trimmed into hedges. Yaupon is slow-growing and tends to get thick and twiggy on the inside, making it ideal for dense hedges but requiring careful pruning to shape it into a tree.

Small greenish-white flowers appear on male and female plants in spring. Flowers are fragrant but generally inconspicuous. Pollinated flowers on female plants give way to berry-like red (infrequently yellow) fruits (1/4” diameter) which ripen in fall and persist into winter. Female plants need a male pollinator in the area in order to bear fruit.

The leaves of the Yaupon Holly can be used to make a caffeinated tea. The flavor resembles another holly drink, the South American yerba mate, from Ilex paraguariensis. The berries are not edible by humans, but are a great food source for birds.

A versatile plant that tolerates drought and poor drainage. Tolerates drought better than most other hollies. Both heat and cold hardy. Can often be grown successfully in hardiness zone 6, but may have some tip burn. Reliably cold hardy down to zone 7. Grow in sandy, loamy, clay, limestone, or gravelly soils. Prune in winter if needed. Promptly remove root suckers unless naturalization is desired.

Height: 10'-18'
Spread: 8'-12'
Bloom: April-May
Light: Full Sun-Dappled Shade
Water: Low-High
Zone: 7-9
Origin: Texas, Southeastern U.S.