Yaupon holly
By LYNN ARTZ, SANDY TEDDER and DAVID RODDENBERRY
Yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) is a very abundant native holly species and one easily grown, even if it is stuck with the unenviable scientific name. A pleasant hallmark of this shrub species is the crop of lustrous red fruits often produced by the female individual. The somewhat lustrous, non-prickly evergreen leaves give a constancy through all seasons. Though holly fruits are inedible, a tea brewed very simply from yaupon’s leaves, dried and toasted, is palatable and caffeine-charged. Pollination is principally by native bees, which are likely to supply pollen from someplace around for female plants installed in gardens. The plant is salt-spray tolerant and often occurs along the immediate coast. Yaupon is used in the east and west hedges of the north gardens of Sopchoppy Depot Park.
