Some of the plants here are traceable to Jesse Rankin who found many yellow-fruited clones over the years. Over 50 gold-berried clones have been found in the wild and about half are from Rankin's work. This plant here may be the one shown on a very old map of the garden under the dubious name 'Rankinii'. Galle in his masteripiece says the clone 'Longwash' is known from the Arboretum. The plant here was only labeled as to the botanical form. As so many of the plants from the original holly collecton are now gone, it would be only a wild assumption to connect them now.

Click on this image for a larger version.

LCH

Not only is iy an attractive item for collections, it makes a very serviceabe landscape plant where the species does well. It has been used creatively for bonsai too. It originated as a witches broom so it tends to be smaller, thicker than many cultivars though it is by no means a dwarf. Out the species amazing one thousand named clones this is one that really stands out.

Click on this image for a larger version.

LCH

Over 1000 clones of this native American species have been named. Fewer than 300 are available in the US trade and not more than 50 are usefully distinct for landscaping.

Orcharding has other requirements and in some areas one must look for midge and leafspot resistance as well as frequency of fruit-bearing. For home gardens, fruit persistance is more of a concern.

The cultivar recommendations here are based on personal observations of our members (your comments are welcome), published works of the American Holly Society, Fred Galle's wonderful monograph, comments solicited from leading growers, and assorted recommendations compiled over the years in our society files.

f. xanthocarpa - click image
JC Raulston Arboretum. Fall 2003. A very old tree dating from the holly collection that predated JC and even the original NC State Arboretum. One of the plants on an old
map (perhaps this or perhaps not) was labelled with the invalid name 'Rankinii'. That suggests it was a Rankin clone and not a more northern selection. Galle says the rare
clone 'Longwash' is known from this old collection so perhaps this is it. The description matches but then do just about 90% of the other clones.

Goldie - click image
Norfolk Bot. Gard. Spring 2004. Known since 1940 and still one of the best golds in the species.

Canary - click image
Norfolk Botanical Garden. Spring 2004. It has a few more orange or dark gold tints than some others. The spines are small but they still bite.

Boyce Thompson Gold (Boyce Thompson Xanthocarpa) - dark leaf, neat habit, showy black dot on fruit
Canary - heavy fruited, light green leaf, spines small and less offensive.
Golden Valentine - bright yellow 8mm fruit
Goldie - very fruitful, larger berries, dull green leaf. One of the better golds.
Forest Nursery - bright yellow 6-8mm fruit, one of the darkest leaves in a golden group
Fruitland Nursery - very persistant gold berries
Galyen Gold - quite spinose leaf
Morgan Gold - fruitful, spinose leaf
Oak Hill No. 1 - one of Rankin's better gold-fruited finds
Old Gold - bright orange-yellow fruit, rather slow and globose habit - smaller than most golds
Princeton Gold - persistant fruit, vigorous, winter color is good
Virginia Giant - bright orange-yellow, one of the largest gold clones with diameters to 10mm
Twenty Four Caret - narrow to columnar, dark leaf, bright yellow fruit, possibly a cross to I. cassine

Christmas Snow - click image
Ebersole Holly Collection, Sandhills NC USA. The contrast of the cream and the dull leaf is very different than with English hollies. The look is very refreshing. This was a tiny plant
so we hope to see some berries in future years.

Christmas Snow - cream margined with some mottling on the blade, good red fruit
Golden Fleece - yellowish-green, blotched yellow to margined. Few fruit but very rare.
Lin's Gold - margined and mottled gold. A male for its pollinates too.
Steward's Silver Crown - margined cream. Glossy dark red fruit. Holds it own with English hollies!

'Clarendon Spreading' - click image for larger version
Ebersole Holly Collection, Sandhills Community Collection, NC USA. Summer 2003. There are bigger examples but hardly one neater and more easily to evaluate.

'Maryland Dwarf' - click image for larger version
Ebersole Holly Collection. Summer 2003. If you want a big, truly spreading holly this is a nice pick.

Betty Nevison - very slow, dwarf, greenish-yellow fruit is not very showy so use for foliage alone
Cape Cod Dwarf - low and spreading. There is the original and Improved clones about.
Clarendon Spreading - 12 ft. x 15 ft. wide in many years, dense, bright orange-red fruit. Very useful.
Columbia - columnar, very narrow, dark leaf, bright red fruit
Dr. S. Edwin Muller - columnar to fastigiate, good red fruit
Hedgeholly - very dense, dark leaves. Takes shearing better than most fruiting clones.
Lide Lane - weeping, usual dark leaf of obovate and keeled form.
Little's Weeping Mound - shrubby mound to weeping, side limbs may root, bright red and large fruit
Maryland Dwarf - low, spreading mound, no leader, wider than tall. Sparse fruit but interesting for collections.
Pin Cushion - dwarf, compact, wider than tall. Good orange-red fruit.

Lake City - click image
Norfolk Botanical Garden. Spring 2004. This is one of the darkest, blackest cultivar we know.

George E. Hart - click image
Norfolk Botanical Garden. Spring 2004.  Labelled as 'Pyramidalis' which Galle says should be 'George E. Hart'

'Satyr Hill' - click imag
Norfolk Botanical Garden. Spring 2004. Nice for the large colorful fruit and a relatively wider leaf.

'Manig' - click image
Norfolk Botanical Garden. Spring 2004. Sparsely spinned with bright fruit and a dense, tiered habit with age.

'Dull Red' - click image
Norfolk Botanical Garden. Spring 2004. In a genus where gloss is boss, this clone is refreshingly dull but interesting. The flat, matt blades appeal. From Kingsville Nursery MD c. 1938

'Klein No. 1' - click image
Norfolk Botanical Garden. Spring 2004. This is a nice choice is you like American olives with more of an olive than a dark leaf. These fruit are a tad more orange (RHS 43A) than
many of those listed below and above. Klein Nursery.

'Cave Hill No. 1' - click image
Norfolk Botanical Garden. Spring 2004. Another Ted Klein choice, again with a reddish-orange (RHS 41A) fruit and lots of spinose teeth.

Arlene Leach - dark leaf, leafspot resistant, very fruitful, reddish-orange berry
Amy - pyramidal, very dark leaf, nice spinose leaf, very fruitful
Andorra - proven performer, spinose leaf
Bountiful - compact conical, symmetrical, lower limbs trail, olive green leaf, heavy annual crops
Cardinal - compact and slower to 20 ft., glossy fruit, smaller dark leaf.
Carolina #2 - very fruitful, dark leaf, superior in the Southeast
Carnival - vigorous yet dense, dark leaf, orange-red fruit
Cave Hill No. 1 - dark leaf, very fruitful clone
Cheerful - dark leaf, very fruitful clone
Christmas Carol - compact hyabit, very fruitful
Christmas Tree - dense, pyramidal, good central leader, dark olvie leaf, large fruit - sometimes clustered
Croonenberg - compact, dark leaf, very fruitful, more hardy than some
Dan Fenton - wide pyramid, dark green leaf, glossy red fruit, one of the top cultivars now
Draper - narrow habit, very dark red fruit
Emily - large red fruit, notable for fruiting on fairly young plants
Farage - wide pyramidal, dark leaf, smaller spines, very persistant fruit
George E. Hart (Pyramidalis) - regularly pyramidal, heavy show of 8mm bright red fruit, nice spinose undulate margins.
Gloucester - more narrow form, dark glossy leaf
George Hart - very dense and slow but good form with age, female despite the name
Greenleaf - vigorous pyramidal, fruitful when young, wavy green leaf, proven in the Southeast
Griscom - dark leaf, small leaf spines
Hedgeholly - compact and fruitful even as a clipped hedge
Janice Arlene - olive green leaf, large 11mm orange-red fruit, holly midge resistant, very fruitful
Jersey Delight - neat conical form, very glossy leaf, orange-red fruit, handles -10 deg. F.
Jersey Princess - glossy spinose leaf, proven in the northeast
Lady Alice - fruitful, spinose leaf, roots readily
Lamp Post - narrowly conical, abundant quality fruit, holly midge resistant too.
Little's Compact Red - dense, 9mm bright red fruit, thick leaves, fruit densely clustered. Rather new.
Manig - compact, tiered form. Abundant fruit. Only 2-3 spines per side and occasionally entire.
Merry Christmas - fruitful, leaf very spinose
Mike Brown - huge 11m fruit, tolerant of drought, leaf miner resistant
Miss Helen - dense, conical, very spinose leaf, fruit a darker red than most, dark thick leaf, holly midge resistant.
Mrs. Santa - fruitful, very spinose leaf
Natale - dark olive leaf, very abudant red fruit, one of the better rated reds in some areas
Old Heavy Berry - slower and conical but worth it, very fruitful, dark leaf
Pearle le Clair - noted for huge fruit to 13mm wide, very fruitful even without pollination, dark leaf
Perfection - fruitful, rather flat dark leaf
Perpetual - dark olive leaf, large clusters, annual bearing and rather persistant - quite reliable color
Red Velvet - dense habit, shortish pyramid, very fruitful, dark olive leaf
September Fire - conical habit, early color, leaf twisted and very spinose
Thanksgiving - bright red fruit
Torchbearer - more compact, very fruitful in large clusters, narrower 2 inch leaf
Ulla - dark leaf, very fruitful, holly midge resistance is notable
William Paca - dense pyramid, dark red, bright fruit, proven in the Southeast

Autumn Wine - fruit near black becoming dark wine red.
Lenape Moon - known for yellow berries with a pink blush
Little's Glossy Salmon - reddish-orange fruit with gloss, dark leaf
Maiden Blush - yellow tinged pink. It lacks the blush if fertilization is strong.
Millville - distinctly orange fruit. Something different and a good contrast with red.
Suntan - dark leaf, open habit, unusual reddish-orange color

Nelson West - click image
Norfolk Botanical Garden. Spring 2004. Very appealng spinose leaves. This mixes up well with other colors and textures in the species or entire genus.

William Hawkins- click image
JC Raulston Arboretum. Summer 2003.

Dan Fenton - short, keeled and wavy leaf. Quite cold hardy too.
Nelson West - narrowly elliptic, very spinose leaf, 5-7 spines per side. Adds interest to a collection.
Vera - unusual curled and keeled leaf, twisted margins, dark abundant fruit. Nice for cut sprays
William Hawkins - very distinct linear leaf,3-4 spines per side. Usually narrow, fine-textured blade that looks like it belongs to another species entirely.

Ashumet - 8-12 ft., compact-horizontal, dark green leaf, very floriferous pollinator, more cold hardy too.
Dr. Cribbs - vigorous, broadly pyramidal, spinose leaf, leaf spot resistance, stays green in winter
Jersey Knight - pyramidal, neat to 25 ft. or more. glossy dark leaf, proven pollinator for years. Because of the good foliage and form this may be the best choice of all the males.
Kentucky Gentleman - proven pollinator, more leaf miner resistance than most clones
Leatherleaf - compact, leather and dark leaf.
Lin's Gold - a variegated pollinator. Margined and mottled gold. Hardy to USDA 5.
Montauk - compact 6 ft. pollinator, good for smaller properties, dark olive leaf