Ilex Vomitoria with picture(attachment)

January 10, 2001

Love, Vicki

http://bluehen.ags.udel.edu/udbg/broadleafeg/descriptions/i_vomito.html

top info and picture

Ilex vomitoria

BOTANICAL NAME: Ilex vomitoria PRONUNCIATION: I-leks vom-i-TOR-e-a COMMON NAME: Yaupon Holly FAMILY: Aquifoliaceae NATIVITY: Virginia, south to Florida, west to Texas. Typically in the coastal plain and sandy soils. GROWTH HABIT: Pyramidal, open small tree. SIZE: 15 - 20' with dwarf cultivars measuring 3 - 4'. HARDINESS: Zone 7 - 9. CULTURE: Grows in the light shade of open canopies or in open fields as well as wet swampy areas. Tolerates extreme heat and drought and saturated soils. Seemingly a plant for all situations! Needs protection in the mid-Atlantic area. LANDSCAPE USE: Specimen, screens, espaliers. Dwarf cultivars are used in foundation plantings and drifts. FOLIAGE: Alternate, ovate 1/2 - 1 1/2" long with a crenate to serrate margin all the way to the base of the leaf. The absence of glands on the underside of the leaf, separates it from Ilex crenata, which it closely resembles. BUDS: BARK: FLOWERS: Dioecious, creamy white, fragrant. FRUIT: Drupe, red, 3/16". (I. crenata has black fruit) PROPAGATION: Cuttings. PESTS: None serious. CULTIVARS:

`Nana' - dwarf, 3 - 4' plant. `Pendula' - weeping form to 25'. `Stokes Dwarf' - dwarf, 3 - 4' plant with purple stems.

-------------------------- http://www.houstonlot.org/plants/YauponHolly.htm

Yaupon Holly is a cool season, perennial native shrub that lives in much of east Texas and the rest of southeastern North America. It grows well in sandy woods and clearings

A mildly stimulating beverage containing caffeine is made from the dried and roasted leaves. They are first steeped in cold and then in boiling water. They are also used to flavor ice cream and soft drinks. The plant was used ritually by several N. American Indian tribes. The leaves were toasted over a fire and then boiled for several hours. The resulting thick black liquid was then drunk and this was followed by immediate vomiting. This was often used a a purification rite prior to hunting.

A slow-growing species in the wild. Dioecious. Flowers are produced on the current year's growth.-------------------------