Ilex verticillata ‘Jim Dandy’
Winterberry holly, American winterberry
Winterberry, a type of holly, is common in Eastern North America. This cultivated variety is not found in the wild.
Plants: This winterberry cultivar is a hardy, deciduous, multiple-stemmed shrub 3–6′ tall ⨉ 4–8′ around (91–182 cm ⨉ 1.2–2.4 m). It is smaller than the native variety, and considered a dwarf. It has gray branches with large white patches.
Leaves: 1½–3 ⨉ ¾–1¼″ (3.8–7.6 ⨉ 1.9–3.2 cm), elliptical in shape, with slight serrations
Flowers: Small white ⅛″ (5 mm) flowers have five to eight petals.
Fruits: Male plants do not produce berries.
Habitats: Average, acidic, boggy or swampy wet soils.
Winterberries are dioecious—that is, they have separate male and female plants. In gardens, both sexes must be present for pollination to produce fruiting. This ‘Jim Dandy’ variety is a male, which does not produce berries. However, it is sufficient to pollinate 9-10 female winterberries, such as Ilex verticillata 'Red Sprite'.
Online References:
6/8/2010 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts 
Male flowers are in clusters · 6/21/2013 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 10 cm) 
6/18/2015 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (16 × 11 cm) 
6/18/2015 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 5″ (19 × 13 cm) 
6/8/2010 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm) 
6/8/2010 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Asteridae | A large class that encompasses asters |
| Order | Aquifoliales | Hollies and some fairly obscure genera |
| Family | Aquifoliaceae | Holly family |
| Genus | Ilex | Latin for “holly oak” (rather than holly!) |
| Species | verticillata | From Latin verticillus, “whorled” |
Ilex verticillata ‘Jim Dandy’ description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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