General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Shrub
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Full Sun to Partial Shade
Partial or Dappled Shade
Water Preferences: Wet
Wet Mesic
Mesic
Soil pH Preferences: Very strongly acid (4.5 – 5.0)
Strongly acid (5.1 – 5.5)
Moderately acid (5.6 – 6.0)
Slightly acid (6.1 – 6.5)
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 4a -34.4 °C (-30 °F) to -31.7 °C (-25 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 9b
Plant Height: 5 - 8 feet
Plant Spread: 5 - 8 feet
Leaves: Evergreen
Broadleaf
Fruit: Showy
Edible to birds
Other: Black "berries" (drupes) on female plants
Fruiting Time: Late summer or early fall
Other: Needs male pollinator for berries
Flowers: Inconspicuous
Blooms on old wood
Flower Color: White
Other: Greenish-white
Bloom Size: Under 1"
Flower Time: Late spring or early summer
Summer
Suitable Locations: Bog gardening
Uses: Windbreak or Hedge
Provides winter interest
Erosion control
Will Naturalize
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Birds
Resistances: Deer Resistant
Rabbit Resistant
Pollution
Flood Resistant
Salt tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Stratify seeds: moist, cold from fall into early spring
Sow in situ
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Stolons and runners
Pollinators: Bees
Miscellaneous: Tolerates poor soil
Dioecious
Awards and Recognitions: Other: 2001 Georgia Gold Medal Winner

Image
Common names
  • Inkberry
  • Gallberry

Photo Gallery
Location: Aberdeen, NC Pages Lake park
Date: April 26, 2022
Inkberry #66; RAB p. 684, 112-1-9; LHB p.630, 111-1-13, "Ancient

photo by Rebekah D. Wallace of UGA via Bugwood https://www.forest
Location: Aberdeen, NC Pages Lake park
Date: April 26, 2022
Inkberry #66; RAB p. 684, 112-1-9; LHB p.630, 111-1-13, "Ancient
Location: March 2023 | Fairfax VA
Date: 2023-03-02
Location: Downingtown Pennsylvania
Date: 2020-12-19
tall, loose-growing form in mostly shady location
Location: Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Date: 2012-06-01
white, waxy female flowers
Location: March 2023 | Fairfax VA
Location: southern New Jersey
Date: 2014-08-09
summer foliage of a wild plant

photo credit: Homer Edward Price
Location: southern New Jersey
Date: 2014-08-09
wild shrub along a creek in summer
Location: southern New Jersey
Date: 2014-08-09
a wild plant near a creek
Location: southern New Jersey
Date: 2014-08-09
a few young plants together on a bank near a creek
Location: Aberdeen, NC
Date: December 20, 2021
Inkberry #66; RAB, p. 684, 112-1-9; LHB p.630, 111-1-13, "Ancient

photo credit: James H. Miller & Ted Bodner

photo credit: James H. Miller & Ted Bodner
Comments:
  • Posted by sallyg (central Maryland - Zone 7b) on Sep 20, 2023 12:01 AM concerning plant:
    This plant appear on lists of 'good natives because birds like the berries,' but all in nursery trade are female so berries can be very hard to come by. I have 5 of these (4 'Shamrock,' 1 'Gem box') installed a few years ago. Full sun, sandy clay soil, average to good moisture. They've grown well, bloomed well, zero berries. Burford holly and American holly don't pollinate this at all. And I have never seen berries on nursery plants either. They have a sort of loose growth, may need to watch and prune if you want them to stay fairly tight. And they will sucker a bit. They did suffer attack of a leaf miner this spring, but have grown out and don't show any bad effects. Male cultivars are hard to find if they even exist commercially. If you have a few years and room to experiment, you can buy small plants or berries and wait to see which end up male.
  • Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Dec 19, 2017 4:33 PM concerning plant:
    Inkberry is a handsome broadleaf evergreen that in nature grows in the wet, acid, sandy soils along the Atlantic Coast from Long Island down all through Florida and along the Gulf coast to eastern Louisiana, with two spots in eastern Texas in bogs, dunes, bottomlands, and banks along water courses and lakes. It can grow in full sun into full light shade. It does well in heavy clay soils. It is slow growing of less than 1 foot/year and is long-lived. It has shallow, fibrous roots and it is easy to transplant. The female plants bear small black berries that are loved by birds, but holly fruit is toxic to humans. There are number of cultivars that are sold in the nursery trade, and are commonly planted in landscapes in the Mid-Atlantic and the South, and sometimes in the Midwest. This shrub does fine in sandy or silt or clay soils with a pH from 4.5 up to around 7.0. One thing I really like about this plant is that it is soft to touch and easy to work with. The similar Japanese Holly grows very stiff and has short, sharp branches that hurt when in close contact. Most of the cultivars tend to be female plants, but there are some males, and cultivars are selected to grow more compact and less leggy than the mother species.
  • Posted by Mindy03 (Delta KY) on Feb 8, 2012 1:45 PM concerning plant:
    Honey bees get nectar from this plant which produces a dark amber honey.
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