# Smooth Winterberry (Ilex laevigata) > A deciduous holly of East Coast swamps with glossy leaves that turn yellow in fall and orange-red berries that feed birds through winter. Also called smooth winterberry holly, smooth holly. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/smooth-winterberry/ ![Smooth winterberry (Ilex laevigata) orange-red berries along the stems among glossy leaves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/smooth-winterberry-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Richard Webb, CC BY 3.0 ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AIlex_laevigata_1480225_4x3.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Shrub - Mature height: 6 to 10 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 8 - Grows wild in: Stream banks, swamps and wet flats - Native range: 15 states and the District of Columbia, north to Maine and south and west to Georgia (Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and the District of Columbia) - Sun: Full, Part - Soil moisture: Wet, Average - Growth rate: Slow - Traits: Wildlife value, Tolerates wet soil, Fall color, 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 Smooth winterberry is a deciduous holly of wooded swamps, pond and lake shores and blackwater streams, mostly on the Coastal Plain from Maine to South Carolina. It is a close relative of our winterberry holly, but its leaves are glossy above, where winterberry's are dull. Its twigs grow as long shoots and short spurs, and its berries are larger and more orange. Maine lists it as a species of special concern, at the north edge of its range, and it is rare in Vermont. The fruit colors the bare twigs from fall into late winter. Mass it in a rain garden, at a pond edge or in a wet hedge, where birds find the berries in winter. ## Size, growth and what to expect Smooth winterberry grows slowly, about a foot a year in our growth estimator. It makes an upright shrub 6 to 10 feet tall and as wide, and a few reach 13 feet. Its finely toothed leaves run about 1.5 to 3.5 inches long and turn yellow before they drop in fall. Small white flowers open from April in the South into June in the North. Male flowers hang on slender stalks, while female flowers sit almost stalkless. On female plants, orange-red berries about a third of an inch across ripen in September and October and hang on into February. A rare form bears yellow fruit. It grows wild near the Atlantic coast from Maine to South Carolina, with scattered stands inland. It is common on the Coastal Plain from New Jersey to Virginia and uncommon or rare at the edges of its range. Its home is wooded and shrubby swamps, pocosins, pond and lake shores and small blackwater streams on wet, acid ground. ## How to grow Smooth Winterberry Smooth winterberry does best in full sun and takes part shade. It wants a wet or moist, acid soil of loam, clay, sand or peat, and it stands saturated ground that floods at times. It does poorly in dry soil and with salt. Plant it 5 feet from a wall and set plants 6 feet apart. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires. 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 crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. Holly seed has a deep dormancy, so sow cleaned seed outdoors in fall, a quarter inch deep under mulch. Expect seedlings in the second or third spring. Water weekly through the first two summers unless the site stays wet. It has some resistance to deer. It needs little pruning. Most plants are male or female, and only females bear the berries, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female. Bees pollinate the flowers, and birds eat the fruit and spread the seed. As with other hollies, eating the berries can make a person mildly ill. ## Sources - [NatureServe Explorer: Ilex laevigata, Smooth Winterberry Holly](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.142500/Ilex_laevigata) - [Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society): Ilex laevigata, from Bean](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/ilex/ilex-laevigata/) - [Go Botany, Native Plant Trust: Ilex laevigata, smooth winterberry](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/ilex/laevigata/) - [Maine Natural Areas Program: Rare Plant Fact Sheet for Ilex laevigata, Smooth Winterberry Holly](https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mnap/features/ilelae.htm) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Ilex laevigata, Smooth Winterberry](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ILLA) - [Jersey-Friendly Yards (Barnegat Bay Partnership), plant database: Ilex laevigata, Smooth Winterberry](https://www.jerseyyards.org/plant/ilex-laevigata/) - [Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department: Rare and Uncommon Native Vascular Plants of Vermont, 10 June 2024](https://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/sites/fishandwildlife/files/documents/Learn%20More/Library/REPORTS%20AND%20DOCUMENTS/NONGAME%20AND%20NATURAL%20HERITAGE/ENDANGERED) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Ilex chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Ilex.pdf) - [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Ilex laevigata, ILLA](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/ILLA) - [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Ilex, the genus page](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/ilex/) ## 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) - [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md) - [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/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 Smooth Winterberry, add ?species=smooth-winterberry with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=smooth-winterberry&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Smooth Winterberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=smooth-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=smooth-winterberry - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Smooth 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=smooth-winterberry - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Smooth 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=smooth-winterberry:3 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Smooth Winterberry flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.