Flowers:
White (Spring; dioecious; fragrant, but not ornamentally important)
Foliage:
Green (Dark green, lustrous evergreen foliage)
Fruit:
Red (Showy red berries (on female plants) that ripen in fall and can persist into winter)
Soil:
Prefers acidic, well-drained soil; does not tolerate wet soil and poor drainage
Diagnostic Characteristics:
Evergreen leaves (1.5-3.5" long) are dark green above, alternate, and simple with large remote spiny teeth (1 to 8 at the most per side). Leaf scar is half-moon shaped with a very prominent vascular bundle in the center. An ovoid, imbricate greenish-brown bud sits above the middle of the leaf scar. Stems are green when young, turning brown with raised circular lenticels.
