Ilex cornuta Lindl. & Paxton

vernacular Chinese holly — species · Aquifoliaceae

USDA: ILCO80
GBIF: 5414258
Rank: species

Chinese holly (Ilex cornuta) — Platephotograph · amarcianaeCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub, Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Aquifoliaceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Genus: Ilex

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Introduced

§2b

County-level range

· 3 counties across 2 states/territories

Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 3 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: High
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: None
Salinity: Low
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: None
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -23 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 160 min.
Precipitation: 26–60 in/yr
pH range: 4.5–5.5
Root depth: 18 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 8 ft
Height @ 20 y: 8 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Red
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Spring
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: None
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 31,000
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 3 counties across 2 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 1 I ▾

Tuscaloosa 01125

Kentucky view state ↗ 2 I ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/ILCO80 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5414258 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T09:28:40Z