Other Name: Possum Haw; Deciduous Holly.
Growth Form: Small tree up to 20 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 3 inches; crown spreading.
Bark: Light brown, more or less warty.
Twigs: Slender, gray, smooth or slightly hairy, often with short spurs; leaf scars alternate, crescent-shaped, slightly elevated, with 1 bundle trace.
Buds: Rounded, gray, up to ⅛ inch in diameter.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, sometimes clustered at the tips of the short spur-like twigs; blades narrowly oblong to elliptic, short-pointed or rounded at the tip, tapering to the base, up to 3 inches long, less than ½ as broad, sparsely and finely toothed along the edges, green and smooth on the upper surface, paler and slightly hairy on the lower surface; leafstalks slender, hairy, up to ¼ inch long.
Flowers: Staminate and pistillate borne separately on different trees, appearing in April and May; both types of flowers in few-flowered clusters, greenish or whitish, with usually 4 small petals.
Fruit: Red or rarely orange berries, spherical, up to ¼ inch in diameter, remaining on the tree during the winter.
Wood: Hard, heavy, close-grained, whitish.
Use: The handsome berries make this species an attractive ornamental.