Long stalked holly - ilex pedunculosa

🌿 Long stalked holly - Ilex pedunculosa 

🔸 Full name

• Common name: Longstalk holly, Japanese holly
• Botanical name: Ilex pedunculosa
• Family: Aquifoliaceae
• Type: Evergreen shrub or small tree

🌳 General description

• Origin: Japan, Taiwan, China
• Habit: Upright, rounded and supple, with light foliage
• Mature height: 4 to 6 m (sometimes up to 8 m in favorable conditions)
• Width: 3 to 4 m
• Growth: Medium
• Special features: A slender, elegant shrub with glossy foliage and very decorative red hanging fruits in winter.

🌱 Foliage

• Type: Evergreen
• Leaves: Elongated, elliptical to lanceolate, 5–10 cm
• Color: Shiny dark green, lighter underside
• Edge: Very few or no thorns—making it a holly that is soft to the touch 🌿
• Note: Dense, fine foliage, often compared to that of a laurel

🌸 Flowering

• Period: May to June
• Flowers: Small, whitish, fragrant, clustered in the leaf axils
• Role: Honey plants and discreet, very useful for pollinators

🍒 Fruit (berries)

• Shape: Small round berries (drupes)
• Color: Bright red
• Special feature: Carried on long peduncles (up to 3 cm) — hence its name “pedunculosa”
• Fruiting period: Fall to winter
• Duration: Persistent on branches throughout winter
• Advantage: Very decorative and popular with birds 🐦

🌾 Pollination

• Type: Dioecious → one male and one female plant are needed for fruiting
• Recommended distance: 5 to 10 m maximum between male and female
• Compatibility: Compatible with other Ilex pedunculosa or sometimes Ilex crenata
• Note: A single male plant can pollinate several female plants

🌿 Cultivation and care

• Exposure: Light sun to partial shade (avoid full, scorching sun)
• Soil: Deep, cool, well-drained, non-calcareous (tolerates slightly acidic to neutral)
• Watering: Regular in the first few years, then moderate
• Pruning:
  • Light, after flowering (early summer)
  • Tolerates light pruning for shaping or hedging
• Fertilization: Compost or leaf mold in spring

🧊 Hardiness

• USDA hardiness zone: 6 to 9
• Minimum temperature: Around -20°C
  👉 Good hardiness for most regions of France; young plants should be protected from cold winds for the first two winters.
  

🌿 Resistance and health

• Disease resistance: Very good
• Possible sensitivities: Rarely affected by pests; occasionally aphids or scale insects in dry conditions
• Pollution tolerance: Average to good
• Drought tolerance: Average—prefers cool soil

💡 Advantages

✅ Elegant, non-prickly, evergreen foliage
✅ Very decorative red berries on long peduncles
✅ Good hardiness and few diseases
✅ Ideal as a specimen plant, in a border, as a free-standing hedge, or in a Japanese garden
✅ Provides shelter and food for birds in winter

⚠️ Points to watch out for

⚠️ Dioecious — plant a male specimen for fruiting
⚠️ Sensitive to overly calcareous soils
⚠️ Slow growth in the first few years

🌳 Landscaping uses

• As a solitary specimen in ornamental or Asian-inspired gardens
• In free-growing or trimmed hedges
• In evergreen shrub beds
• In combination with Camellia japonica, Pieris japonica, Rhododendron, or Aucuba japonica for an elegant shade effect

🌸 Notable varieties and selections

Ilex pedunculosa ‘Longstalk’ → typical horticultural form, very long fruits

Ilex pedunculosa ‘Female Form’ → female selection with abundant fruiting

Ilex pedunculosa ‘Variegata’ → variegated green and cream foliage