Ilex amelanchier (female) Propagate mango-shaped fruit softens to a

mango-shaped fruit softens to a fragrant custard

yet the tree belongs to the witch-hazel family

easily missed and beside the point

and the glossy foliage holds structure year-round

and in the South grows into a graceful evergreen tree rather than the shrubby

Ilex amelanchier (female) Propagate mango-shaped fruit softens to aIlex amelanchier is one of the surprises of the genus, a holly that drops the leaves in fall and carries none of the usual prickles. This rare native grows as a tall deciduous shrub or small tree, and the female plants, this one among them, hang dull, matte red berries on unusually long stems, a soft toned, almost muted display quite unlike the glossy scarlet of a Christmas holly. The epithet amelanchier is the giveaway, borrowed straight from the