Ilex aquifolium L., Aquifoliaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  yes

Common name(s): [more details]

English: English holly, European holly

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Evergreen shrubs or small trees 2-10 m tall.  Leaves dark green, thick, glossy, ovate or elliptic, 5-12 cm long, 2.5-5.5 cm wide, glabrous, margins usually thickened, undulate, regularly or irregularly toothed, the teeth stiff, spreading, spinose, rarely entire.  Flowers fragrant, in fasiculate cymes along previous year's growth, up to ca. 1 cm long, peduncles 0.3-0.5 cm long; calyx lobes 4, deltate, ca. 1.5-2 mm long; corolla lobes ca. 4 mm long; ovary 4-celled.  Fruit bright red, 8-10 mm in diameter" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 222, 224).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "occasionally cultivated and now naturalized at the edge of degraded wet forest, 1,860 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 222, 224). Prefers acid, sandy or gravelly loam soils (Csurhes & Edwards, 1998; p. 111).

Propagation:  Seed, spread by birds (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 222, 224).

Native range:  "Southern and western Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, widely cultivated" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 222, 224).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 222, 224) Voucher cited: Herbst 8846 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R. (1995) (p. 15) East Maui. Voucher cited: Tanabe 37 (BISH)
Nauru Nauru Island	Nauru Island	introduced cultivated	Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. (1994) (p. 94) Ilex sp.; voucher cited: Hassall 164 (SUVA)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced invasive	Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (p. 111) Also Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria.
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 143) "Scrubland and forest".

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast and Florida) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

Control: 

Physical:  "Small plants and seedlings are pulled or dug out, the roots must be removed".

Chemical:  "Freshly cut stumps should be treated with  glyphosate herbicide, otherwise the species will resprout.  Fruit-bearing plants should be removed first to prevent seed dispersal"  (Weber, 2003; p. 212).

Additional information:
Additional online information about Ilex aquifolium is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Ilex aquifolium as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Ilex aquifolium may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. 1998. Potential environmental weeds in Australia: Candidate species for preventative control. Canberra, Australia. Biodiversity Group, Environment Australia. 208 pp.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. 2000. Survey of invasive or potentially invasive cultivated plants in Hawai‘i. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers No. 65. 35 pp.

Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. 1994. The flora of Nauru. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Atoll Research Bulletin 392:1-223.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R. 1995. Contributions to the Flora of Hawai‘i. IV. New Records and name changes. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 42:13-27.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.