# Myrtle Dahoon (Ilex myrtifolia) > A small-leaved evergreen holly of southern swamp edges, with thick, shiny leaves like a myrtle's and red berries that last into spring. Also called myrtle holly, myrtle-leaf holly, Ilex cassine var. myrtifolia. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/myrtle-dahoon/ ![Myrtle dahoon (Ilex myrtifolia) narrow, shiny evergreen leaves along a slender twig](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/myrtle-dahoon-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Robert Thornhill, CC BY 4.0 ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AIlex-Ilex-myrtifolia-photo-by-R.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Small tree - Mature height: 15 to 25 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 7 to 10 - Grows wild in: Sandy barrens, swamps and wet flats - Native range: 8 states, north to North Carolina, south to Florida and west to Texas (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas) - Sun: Full, Part, Shade - Soil moisture: Wet, Average - Growth rate: Medium - Traits: Evergreen, Wildlife value, Tolerates wet soil, Hedge or screen, Tolerates shade, Winter interest - 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 Myrtle dahoon is an evergreen holly of the southern Coastal Plain, from North Carolina to Florida and west to Louisiana and Texas. It grows at the edges of swamps and cypress ponds, in bays and on low, sandy flats. It is a close cousin of dahoon, sometimes treated as a variety of it. Its thick, shiny leaves are only half an inch to an inch and a half long, like a myrtle's. NatureServe ranks it critically imperiled in Texas and imperiled in Louisiana, at the west end of its range. Use it as an evergreen hedge at a pond edge or in a wet, shady corner, where the red berries last into spring. ## Size, growth and what to expect Myrtle dahoon grows at a medium pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. It makes a dense evergreen shrub or small tree, usually no more than 15 to 18 feet tall, and some reach 25 feet. Its thick, shiny leaves are half an inch to an inch and a half long, and its thin gray bark turns scaly with age. Small, fragrant, greenish-white flowers open from April into June. On female trees, berries a quarter inch across ripen red, now and then orange or yellow, in late fall. They often hang on until spring, and birds eat them. It grows wild on the Coastal Plain from North Carolina to Florida and west to Louisiana and Texas. Its home is the margins of swamps and cypress ponds, bays and low, sandy flats. In the Florida Panhandle it grows with Chapman's St. John's-wort in wet shrublands around flatwoods ponds. ## How to grow Myrtle Dahoon Myrtle dahoon grows in full sun or part shade and also takes shade. It wants a moist to wet, acid soil, and it takes standing water for part of the year. Plant it 15 feet from a wall and 15 feet from overhead wires, since some trees reach 25 feet. Set plants 8 feet apart for a hedge. Saplings ship potted. Its roots resent disturbance, so plant it once, in its final spot. Dig a hole wider than the root ball and no deeper, and set the root flare at the soil line. Put the native soil back in and keep the mulch clear of the stems. Clean the seed from the pulp and discard any that float, since they are not viable. Sow it outdoors in fall, a quarter inch deep under mulch, and expect seedlings in the second or third spring. For a spring sowing, keep it damp at room temperature for one to two months and then in the refrigerator for two to three months. Water weekly through the first two summers, and shelter young plants from hard cold for their first winter or two. It takes pruning well and can be cut back to old wood. Trees are male or female, and only females bear the berries, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female. It is relatively free of pests and diseases. Eating the berries can make a person mildly ill. ## Sources - [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Ilex myrtifolia](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/ilex-myrtifolia/) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Ilex myrtifolia, Myrtle Dahoon, Myrtle Leaf Holly, Myrtle Holly](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ILMY) - [Virginia Tech Dendrology: myrtle holly](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=802) - [Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society): Ilex cassine, from Bean, with I. myrtifolia](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/ilex/ilex-cassine/) - [NatureServe Explorer: Ilex myrtifolia, Myrtle Holly](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.144875/Ilex_myrtifolia) - [NatureServe Explorer: Hypericum chapmanii - Ilex myrtifolia - (Nyssa ursina) Wet Shrubland](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.686326/Hypericum_chapmanii_-_Ilex_myrtifolia_-_%28Nyssa_ursina) - [Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries: Rare Plants Tracking List, 2022](https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/assets/Conservation/Protecting_Wildlife_Diversity/Files/rare_plants_tracking_list_2022.pdf) - [Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: Updated List of State T and E Species in Texas, effective March 30, 2020](https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/nongame/listed-species/media/fedState-ListedSpeciesComplete-3302020.pdf) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Ilex chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Ilex.pdf) - [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Ilex myrtifolia, ILMY](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/ILMY) ## 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 Myrtle Dahoon, add ?species=myrtle-dahoon with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=myrtle-dahoon&zone=7&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Myrtle Dahoon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=myrtle-dahoon): 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=myrtle-dahoon - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Myrtle Dahoon 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=myrtle-dahoon - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Myrtle Dahoon 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=myrtle-dahoon:3 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Myrtle Dahoon flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.