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Ilex decidua
| Scientific name | : | Ilex decidua |
| Synonyms | : | Ilex curtissii |
| Origin | : | Southeastern United States |
| Description | : | Possum haw is a deciduous, gray barked shrub or small tree that can grow to 30 ft or more in height. The leaves are alternately placed, lustrous dark green above, 1.5 to 3 inches in length, and have veins that are sunken below the upper leaf surface (impressed). A profusion of lateral branches and a tendency to sucker frequently produces a bushy-appearing tree. The flowers have 4 or 5 (generally 4) whitish petals. Both the male and female plants produce flowers singly or in small clusters of generally not more than three flowers. The fruits are nearly spherical, reddish (rarely yellow in the wild), and 0.13 to 0.25 inches in diameter. |
| Distribution | : | Dirr[5] considers Ilex decidua to be a zone 5 to 9 species. It is commonly found in fence rows, in lowlands, open woodlands and along streams and rivers. |
| Blooming period | : | Fernald provides a composite blooming date range for much of species distribution as April and May. Sanborn and Scholl[14] describe the blooming date in Texas as “March, May” with May apparently being the more important or likely of the two months. |
| Importance | : | Like many of the other hollies, relatively little appears in the American beekeeping literature about Ilex decidua. Both Pellett and Lovell place it in a list of hollies that produce nectar. Sanborn and Scholl[14] describe the honey yield in the San Antonio valley region of Texas as good but short. There, during warm springs, the flow comes on early and is valuable for early brood production. |
| Pollen | : | While I have no specific data on this topic, I presume that this species provides pollen much like the other holly species for which I do have data. |
| Reference | : | 1. Arnold, L. E. . 1954. Some honey plants of Florida. University of Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations Bulletin 548. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
2. Ayers, G. S. and J. R. Harman. 1992. Bee Forage of North America and the Potential for Planting for Bees. In The Hive and the Honey Bee (J. M. Graham, Ed.), Dadant and Sons. Hamilton, IL. 3. Billington, C. 1977. Shrubs of Michigan. Cranbrook Institute of Science Bulletin 20. (2nd Edition). Cranbrook Institute of Science. Bloomfield Hills, MI. 4. Crane, E., P. Walker and R. Day. 1984. Directory of Important World Honey Sources. International Bee Research Association. London. 5. Dirr, M. A. 1998. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. Stipes Publishing L.L.C. Champaign, IL. 6. Fernald, M. L. 1970. Gray's Manual of Botany (8th edition). D. Van Nostrand Company. New York. 7. Galle, F. C. 1997, The Hollies--The Genus Ilex. Timber Press in association with the Holly Society of America Inc. Portland, OR. 8. Lovell, H. B. 1966. Honey Plants Manual. A Practical Field Handbook for Identifying Honey Flora. A. I. Root Co. Medina, OH. 9. Lovell, J. 1926. Honey Plants of North America. A. I. Root Co. Medina, OH. 10. Morton Arboretum Staff. 1990. Woody Plants of The Morton Arboretum. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, IL. 11. Morton, J. A. 1964. Honeybee plants of South Florida. Proceedings, Florida State Horicultural Society 77:415-436. 12. Oertel, E. 1939. Honey and Pollen Plants of the United States (U. S. D. A. Circular 554) U. S. Government Printing Office. Washington D. C. 13. Pellett, F. C. 1978. American Honey Plants. Dadant and Sons, Hamilton, IL. 14. Sanborn, C. E. and E. E. Scholl. 1908. Texas Honey Plants. Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 102. Texas Agricultural Experiment Stations, College Station, Texas. 15. Sanford, M. T. Florida Bee Botany Florida Cooperative Extension Service/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Circular 686. University of Gainesville, FL 16. USDA, NRCS. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA 17. Wilder, J. J. 1907. The Gallberry as a honey-plant. Gleanings in Bee Culture 36:1200-1211. |
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