Other Names:  Tarajo Holly

Description:

Glossy, lance shaped leaves are dark green; it produces brilliant red fruit in winter; needs male pollinator; shows some drought tolerance

Ornamental Features

Lusterleaf Holly is primarily grown for its highly ornamental fruit. It features an abundance of magnificent red berries in late fall. It has attractive dark green evergreen foliage. The large glossy sword-like leaves are highly ornamental and remain dark green throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Lusterleaf Holly is a dense multi-stemmed evergreen tree with a distinctive and refined pyramidal form. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other landscape plants with finer foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds and bees to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Lusterleaf Holly is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens

Planting & Growing

Lusterleaf Holly will grow to be about 25 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 15 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 2 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 years or more.

This tree does best in full sun to partial shade. It is quite adaptable, prefering to grow in average to wet conditions, and will even tolerate some standing water. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for rich, acidic soils. It is quite intolerant of urban pollution, therefore inner city or urban streetside plantings are best avoided, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This species is not originally from North America.