Ilex crenata Thunb.

Japanese Holly

Evergreen shrub or small tree. Leaves to about 3 cm long and 2 cm wide, ovate to elliptic with rounded teeth, dotted below. Flower parts 4; late spring to early summer. Fruits about 0.5 cm wide, glossy black, rarely yellow or white.

Japan, Korea, Sakhalin.

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Aquifoliaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

Hero image
Distribution map

Ilex crenata 'Golden Gem'

Female clone. Dwarf, low-growing and spreading shrub with smallish golden yellow leaves at least at first. Int. L. Konijn &Co., Reenwijk, Holland.

Ilex crenata 'Helleri'

Dwarf, spreading shrub with small elliptic grey-green leaves with 2-4 spines on each side. A seedling selection by Joseph Heller, Newport, Rhode Island, usa, c.1930.

Ilex crenata 'Mariesii'

Female clone. Dwarf plant growing less than 2.5 cm each year,with erect, short branches and small round to ovate concave leaves about 5 mm wide that are either entire or have a few teeth at the tip. Fruits black. Int. from Japan by Charles Maries, c. 1879, to the London Nsy of Messrs Veitch. May be used for topiary or as a pygmy rockery plant.

kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Magnoliopsida
superorder     Asteranae
order      Aquifoliales
family       Aquifoliaceae
genus        Ilex L.