Tree · Aquifoliaceae
American holly
Ilex opaca · includes its varieties and subspecies
American holly is recorded as native to 24 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 756 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
American holly at a glance
- Native in
- 756 counties, across 24 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a PLANTS minimum temperature −20°F
- Mature height
- 40 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −20°F; zone 5a winters bottom out at −20°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
American holly is recorded as native to 24 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 756 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 756 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 56 counties
- Arkansas 46 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 47 counties
- Georgia 54 counties
- Illinois 1 county
- Kentucky 77 counties
- Louisiana 45 counties
- Massachusetts 7 counties
- Mississippi 53 counties
- Missouri 7 counties
- New Jersey 17 counties
- New York 11 counties
- North Carolina 83 counties
- Ohio 7 counties
- Pennsylvania 15 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 37 counties
- Tennessee 45 counties
- Texas 37 counties
- Virginia 81 counties
- West Virginia 23 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 40 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 40 to 80 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- Medium
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 30 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −20°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 140
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- Yes
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Aquifoliaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ILOP
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Ilex opaca (PLANTS symbol ILOP), including 1 variety or subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources