Another mystery shrub! Please can you help ID it?

July 18, 2014 2:56 PM

this shrub is growing in our Atlanta yard.

It is currently about 4 feet high but looks like it could get bigger. I think it is evergreen. The tips of the new leaves are kind reddish especially at the tip. Picture includes leaf and a twig. I would like to know how and when to prune it as it was left to its own devices for a while and is asymmetrical and in need of shaping.

I tried online identifiers but with no obvious answer. Plant experts, can you help? Thanks!

posted by pointystick to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

Does it ever have red berries? It could be Ilex vomitoria aka yaupon holly.
posted by pullayup at 3:02 PM on July 18, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks pulayup - I forgot to mention - no berries, fruit, flowers, or thorns.
posted by pointystick at 3:11 PM on July 18, 2014

Best answer: No thorns and no berries can still be yaupon holly. Only female plants have berries--their presence would confirm the ID but no berries could just mean it's a male plant. As far as I know yaupon holly is thornless, or at least domestic cultivars are.
posted by pullayup at 5:01 PM on July 18, 2014

More on identifying yaupon holly.
posted by pullayup at 5:19 PM on July 18, 2014

Those look identical to the leaves on my Camellia bush here in Forsyth County. I think it blooms only on the old wood, so when I cut it back constantly it won't bloom on the new growth at all. And it blooms in the cold weather in Georgia so when you might not be out in the yard to notice.
posted by Revie1 at 8:20 AM on July 19, 2014

Response by poster: It is indeed a yaupon holly! Thanks, all and especially pullyaup!
posted by pointystick at 2:54 PM on July 20, 2014