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Inkberry

Ilex glabra

Inkberry is a tidy native evergreen holly with black berries, widely used as a well-behaved boxwood alternative for hedges and foundations. Suckers into colonies; thrives on moist, acidic soil. The berries are poisonous to people: like others in the genus they carry saponins and can cause vomiting, diarrhea and stupor if eaten in quantity.

Family

Aquifoliaceae

Type

shrub

Lifespan

perennial

Height

5–8 ft

Spacing

5–8 ft apart

Light

part shade

Soil moisture

moist, wet

Soil pH

acidic, neutral

Bloom

June, July, August, September

Bloom colors

white

Wildlife value

songbirds, larval host

Caterpillar hosts

~39 butterfly & moth species

Landscape uses

hedge or screen, naturalizing, rain garden

Native states

AL, AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, LA, MA, MD, ME, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, SC, TX, VA