Ilex verticillata x serrata 'Sparkleberry' 26/2 Restock under high trees

under high trees

the females bearing soft white seed fluff in fall

running from the southern United States through Mexico and Central America into South America

now long closed

Ilex verticillata x serrata 'Sparkleberry' 26/2 Restock under high treesIlex 'Sparkleberry' is the aristocrat of the winterberries, a vigorous hybrid holly bred from the native winterberry, Ilex verticillata, and the Japanese winterberry, Ilex serrata, and introduced by the U. S. National Arboretum. The cross brought hybrid vigor and a heavier, longer holding crop: tall, upright stems that shed their leaves in fall and blaze with bright red fruit, persisting so well that the berries often hang on into spring. That