Ilex cassine L., Aquifoliaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 3 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: dahoon, dahoon holly

Habit:  shrub/tree

Description:  "Evergreen shrub or treelet usually to 15 (-35) feet tall; bark often whitish, young stems usually pubescent.  Leaf blades obovate-oblong to oblanceolate, 2-5 inches x 0.8-1.4 inches, upper side dark green and glabrous, underside ± whitish gray-pubescent, papery to leathery, entire or apex weakly toothed, apex rounded or slightly notched.  Inflorescence of stalked clusters in leaf axils or along stem between leaves.  Flowers ca 0.2 inches in diameter, white; male flowers to 15 per cluster; female flowers 1-5 per cluster.  Fruit in stalked clusters, globose, 0.25-0.3 inches in diameter, red (or yellow), stones 1-4, ribbed"  (Staples & Herbst, 2005;. p. 130).

"Red to yellow fruit and narrowly oblanceolate to elliptic leaves with entire margins, rarely with a few small teeth in the upper half"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 222).

Habitat/ecology:  In its native habitat, "dahoon typically grows in low, swampy ground on rich, moist soil or less often in higher pinelands on sandy soil.  Dahoon thrives in full sun on moist, organically rich soil and may be propagated by seeds or cuttings"  (Staples & Herbst, 2005;. p. 130).

Propagation:  "The red fruit is attractive to birds, which eat it and disperse the seeds" (Staples & Herbst, 2005;. p. 130).

Native range:  Southern United States, Mexico, Bahamas, Cuba and Puerto Rico (GRIN).

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 cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 222)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2000) (p. 9) Voucher cited: D. Herbst & S. Ishikawa 5603 (BISH), L. Stemmermann 6931 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 222)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2000) (p. 9) Voucher cited: M. Keir 1 (BISH)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

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) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Photos and additional information at University of Florida, Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants.

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

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

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

References:

Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2000. New Hawaiian plant records for 1999. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1999. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 63:9-16.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2005. A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 908 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.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

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).