Reflections in Nature: Winterberry holly has been a staple of Christmas
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The colorful leaves have fallen off the trees, leaving much of the countryside a drab brown color, however, the orange berries of the bittersweet and the red berries of the winterberry holly provide much color on gray and snowy winter days.
Mary Alice and I have been noticing that this year has been a banner year for the bright red berries of the winterberry holly. Of course, the yellow and orange berries of the bittersweet bushes are always seen in abundance on the banks of the highways.
Perhaps, you've seen the bright red berries of the winterberry holly bush and were unsure of what they were. Since the winterberry holly bush likes to keep its feet wet, you need to look in areas that are wet and swampy to find these bright red berries.
The Christmas berry is another name for the winterberry holly. This name came down from our early ancestors that did not have the fancy balls, lights and trinkets that are used today to decorate our homes for Christmas. Our ancestors decorated their homes with items found in nature, and boughs of the winterberry holly were one of their favorite decorations.
Through the years, I often brought winterberry holly home for Mary Alice to use when decorating for Christmas. One year she decided to use items from nature to decorate our tree and make wreaths for the doors. My favorite was a wreath she made of white pine needles, a pheasant feather and deer antlers.
Another name for the winterberry holly bush is black alder. Many years ago, when grouse hunting with my friend, Charlie Fox, we came upon a bush loaded with red berries. He commented that the bush was a black alder. I disagreed and said that it was a winterberry holly.
The winterberry holly -- which is usually found as a shrub 6-12 feet high -- grows in swamps, wet meadows and along the shoreline of streams, lakes and ponds. It is one of our deciduous hollies. Although the plant is in no way related to the alders, the winterberry holly grows in the same areas and looks like an alder.
The common name black alder comes from the fact that it often grows among the alders, with leaves shaped somewhat like those of an alder. During the fall, the leaves turn black. True alders have neither petal flowers nor fleshy fruit but have catkins and dry fruit produced in a small cone.
In the northeastern United States, only three species of native hollies are shrubs. Although winterberry holly is one of the most common hollies in the east, very few people can identify the bush. When hollies are mentioned, most people think of the prickly evergreen leaves of the American holly.
The second deciduous holly is the mountain holly, which also has red berries. The third species is inkberry, an evergreen that appears less like our normal conception of holly than even the deciduous species. Its name reflects the fact that its berries are black and not red as those of the many hollies.
Individual plants of the winterberry holly bear either male or female flowers. The flowering period varies from April to July and later in colder climates. Because of this late blooming, frost damage to the flower is infrequent, however, a summer's drought can stop the development of the fruit.
Male blossoms are borne in clusters, with each attached to the twig by a common stalk, while the female flowers occur singly. Both flowers are borne on the basal part of the current year's twig growth.
It will take at least three years before a shrub will start producing fruit. A large shrub can bear several thousand red berries.
If a female winterberry plant is to bear fruit, a source of pollen must be close by. Although the pollen needed can be from a male of another holly species, it must flower at the same time as the winterberry shrub.
The winterberry holly is a good shrub to use in your landscaping. The bright red color appears well into winter plus the bush is not one that deer seem to prefer browsing on, 35 species of birds feed upon the berries and, of course, you'll have free Christmas decorations.
Bill Bower is a retired Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Officer. Read his blog and listen to his podcasts on the outdoors at www.onemaningreen.com.