American Hollies and Winterberries

     The related American holly trees and winterberry bushes have characteristics in common.  Both species are native to the eastern United States.  Females of both kinds have many beautiful, decorative, red berries through each winter, the season when both these species are most attractive because of their scarlet berries.  And each individual of both types of woody plants is either a male or a female, but not both genders in the same plant.  At least one male plant of each type must be near enough to female plants of its kind for wind and insects to able to pollinate female flowers so they can produce berries.  Neither kind of holly is common in the wild here in southeastern Pennsylvania, but both are fairly commonly planted here. 
     American hollies grow to be tall, single-trunk trees.  They are common in the woods of Maryland and Delaware and farther south, and wild in limited numbers on the bottomlands and islands of the lower Susquehanna River.  Each of their thick, two-inch-long leaves has at least a few sharp prickles on its wavy margin and remains green on its twig through the year, which is unusual for a non-coniferous tree.  Their striking red berries in winter are in lovely contrast to their green foliage, which makes this a lovely tree species in winter, especially when snow is piled on the twigs and foliage of each tree.
     Wild winterberry shrubs, also known as deciduous hollies because of their losing their inch-long, lean leaves each autumn, inhabit wooded bottomlands with moist soil.  Some damp woods harbor several female winterberries, each one loaded with many scarlet berries that glow like flames in the gray woods of winter.  Winterberry shrubs in some woodlands are associates of native spicebushes, and alien barberries and burning bushes, all of which have red berries as well.
     Winterberry shrubs are planted on lawns because of the many striking, red berries on each female plant.  Those multitudes of scarlet berries add much beauty and interest to many suburban lawns through winter.
     The berries of these related hollies are green as they grow, but turn red as they mature in fall, as do the berries of many other kinds of plants.  Adding their beauties to those of  red berries, a variety of berry-eating birds, including northern mockingbirds, starlings, American robins and cedar waxwings, easily see red berries among green foliage, which benefits both the birds and the vegetation that grows red berries.  Each mockingbird tries to keep a patch of berries for itself, which includes trying to chase away flocks of other species from "its berries".  Each mocker repeatedly dives at other birds to bluff them away from the berries, which is interesting to watch.
     Meanwhile, berry-eating birds of various kinds ingest the strikingly red berries, digest the pulp of each one, but pass the berries' seeds in droppings, including those of American hollies and winterberries, as they fly about the countryside.  The birds get nutrition and the hollies get spread across the land, which increases their numbers and their success as species.  Several American holly seedlings have sprung up on our lawn over the years.  And the birds guarantee part of their berry food supply into the future.
     Mysteriously, bird species sometimes don't consume holly berries until late in winter and into early spring, such as robins passing through here on migration early in March.  Berries of other plants are consumed before those on hollies.  Therefore, many pretty holly berries last all winter, much to our enjoyment.  But holly berries provide nourishment when the supplies of other berries are exhausted and many birds need it most.     
     There is much beauty in the red berries of female American hollies and winterberries, whether they are wild or planted.  The evergreen foliage of holly trees is also a lovely contrast with the scarlet berries on them.  And birds attracted to the hollies to consume their lovely berries in winter and early spring add their beauties to those of the plants.  Study hollies a bit more closely to experience their beauties and that of the birds that ingest their fruits.