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NC Native Plant Society:
Plant Details

Ilex coriacea

Big Gallberry, Sweet Gallberry

Scientific Name:

Ilex coriacea

Genus:

Ilex

Species Epithet:

coriacea

Common Name:

Big Gallberry, Sweet Gallberry

Plant Type

Shrub

Life Cycle

Perennial

Plant Family

Aquifoliaceae (Holly Family)

Native/Alien:

NC Native

Size:

3-6 ft., 6-12 ft., 12-36 ft.

Bloom Color(s):

White

Light:

Sun - 6 or more hours of sun per day, Part Shade - 2 to 6 hours of sun per day

Soil Moisture:

Moist, Wet

Bloom Time:

April, May

Growing Area:

Sandhills, Coastal Plain

Habitat Description:

Pocosins, more restricted to wet, peaty sites than I. glabra (Weakley 2015). Common on NC Coastal Plain.

Leaf Arrangement:

Alternate

Leaf Retention:

Evergreen

Leaf Type:

Leaves veined, not needle-like or scale-like

Leaf Form:

Simple

Life Cycle:

Perennial

Wildlife Value:

Important for Wildlife

Landscape Value:

Not Recommended for home landscapes

State Rank:

S5: Secure (*Key)

Global Rank:

G5 - Secure (*Key)

Notes:

Colonial.

Large Gallberry, Ilex coriacea

Large Gallberry is very similar to Inkberry, Ilex glabra. However it grows taller and has berries that are slightly wider than tall and that seldom persist into winter.

image

Buds

image

Flowers

image

Leaf

Large Gallberry has a few bristly minute teeth which differentiate it from the blunt teeth on the upper edges of Inkberry leaves.

image

Ilex coriacea fruit, September, NC Sandhills Game Lands

image

© Will Stuart, 2015

Ilex coricea fruits seem to ripen well before those of Ilex glabra.

Large, evergreen shrub with upward reaching branches. Leaves tend to be wider near the tip (obovate).

Nick’s Creek Preserve, Moore County, NC

The Scientific Name is Ilex coriacea. You will likely hear them called Big Gallberry, Sweet Gallberry. This picture shows the Large, evergreen shrub with upward reaching branches. Leaves tend to be wider near the tip (obovate). of Ilex coriacea

Bettina Darveaux

Links:

USDA PLANTS Database Record



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