# Mountain Winterberry (Ilex montana) > A deciduous holly of moist Appalachian slopes, with leaves up to 6 inches long and red fruit larger than most hollies bear, a favorite of birds. Also called mountain holly, big-leaved holly, large-leaf holly, Ilex monticola. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mountain-winterberry/ ![Mountain winterberry (Ilex montana) leafy branch with clusters of dark red fruit](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/mountain-winterberry-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Alex Abair, CC BY 4.0 ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AIlex_montana_563999811.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Small tree - Mature height: 20 to 40 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 10 - Grows wild in: The Appalachians, rich moist slopes, rocky ground and the forest understory - Native range: 14 states, north to New York, south to Georgia and west to Alabama (Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia) - Sun: Part, Full, Shade - Soil moisture: Average - Growth rate: Slow - Traits: Wildlife value, Tolerates shade - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Mountain winterberry is a deciduous holly of Appalachian forests, a shrub or small tree. Prominent veins give its thin leaves a wrinkled look, and most of them are about 4 inches long. NatureServe ranks it secure overall but critically imperiled in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey, at the edge of its range. Massachusetts and New Jersey list it as endangered. Plant it at a woodland edge or on a moist, wooded slope, where birds find the fruit in fall. ## Size, growth and what to expect Mountain winterberry grows slowly, about a foot a year in our growth estimator. It commonly grows to 20 feet, and some trees reach 40 feet or more. Small greenish-white flowers, a quarter inch across, open in May and June. Bees visit them, including Colletes banksi, a bee that specializes in holly flowers. On female trees, round fruit up to half an inch across ripens orange-red to red in September. Birds and small mammals favor it, and it lasts only a short time on the branches. It grows in the Appalachians from western Massachusetts and New York to north Georgia, on moist wooded slopes, ridges and ravines. It ranges from 45 to 6,100 feet above sea level, and at lower elevations it rarely grows in headwater wetlands and bogs. In New England it grows on talus and rocky slopes. ## How to grow Mountain Winterberry Mountain winterberry grows in sun or part shade, in an average, moist, acid soil that drains well. It has some tolerance for drought. Plant it 15 feet from a wall and 15 feet from overhead wires, since some trees reach 40 feet. Set plants 12 feet apart. Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. Holly seed has a deep dormancy and comes up slowly. Sow cleaned seed outdoors in fall, a quarter inch deep under mulch, and expect seedlings in the second or third spring. Water weekly through the first two summers. Deer browse it, and browsing can hold back wild plants, so cage young plants where deer are many. It flowers on the current season's growth, so shape it in late winter if it needs pruning. Trees are male or female, and only females bear the red fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female. It is slow to reach maturity but long-lived, and no disease or insect pest is known to trouble it. Eating the berries can make a person mildly ill. ## Sources - [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Ilex montana](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/ilex-montana/) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Ilex montana](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ILMO) - [Virginia Tech Dendrology: mountain holly](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=935) - [Go Botany, Native Plant Trust: Ilex montana](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/ilex/montana/) - [Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society): Ilex montana, from Bean](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/ilex/ilex-montana/) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Ilex chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Ilex.pdf) - [NatureServe Explorer: Ilex montana](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.152300/Ilex_montana) - [Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program: Printable List of Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern Species](https://www.mass.gov/doc/printable-list-of-endangered-threatened-and-special-concern-species/download) - [Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection: Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Plants, effective August 5, 2015](https://portal.ct.gov/deep/endangered-species/endangered-species-listings/endangered-threatened--special-concern-plants) - [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Ilex montana, ILMO](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/ILMO) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [Multistem or single stem? Sometimes the trunk is hiding the answer](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/multistem-or-single-stem/index.html.md) - [Leaf litter, not wood chips, under the canopy](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/leaf-litter-not-wood-chips/index.html.md) - [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Mountain Winterberry, add ?species=mountain-winterberry with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=mountain-winterberry&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Mountain Winterberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=mountain-winterberry): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=mountain-winterberry - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Mountain Winterberry is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=mountain-winterberry - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Mountain Winterberry needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=mountain-winterberry:3 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Mountain Winterberry flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.