Ilex vomitoria, commonly known as yaupon holly is part of the holly family and is native to southeastern North America from the Eastern Shore of Virginia, south to Florida, and west to Texas. This slow-growing attractive shrub with its leathery leaves and bright red berries is not only festive looking it also offers Native Americans some interesting medicinal options.
About Ilex vomitoria
Yaupon is considered to be a small evergreen tree or large shrub that can grow up to 30 feet in the wild. Small, densely packed ovate gray-green leaves with a leather-like texture have rounded serrated edges and grow on rigid grey branches. This evergreen is adaptable to both dry and wet soil and can easily grow in either sun or shade. It is most commonly found in coastal areas with well-drained sandy soils like sand dunes, as well as on the edges of brackish marshes, in maritime forests, and in non-tidal forested wetlands. Yaupon has a vase-like shaped form when mature and will grow more berries if planted in the sun. The flowers bloom in April and are highly fragrant. If a male plant is nearby, the female flowers will evolve into red berries that continue to be red well into the winter months. The berries contain four pits that are dispersed by birds eating the fruit.
Medicinal Uses
This is one of the few plants in North America that contains caffeine, it actually has more caffeine in it than any other plant found here. Native Americans brewed the leaves and stems of this plant to make a tea thought to be called asi or black drink that was used in male-only purification ceremonies. This ceremony included vomiting and the Europeans thought that this plant induced it and named this plant Ilex vomitoria. It is thought that drinking large quantities and fasting caused vomiting. Ilex vomitoria contain caffeine, theobromine (a bitter alkaloid found in cacao), and theophylline. The Cherokee, Creek, Natchez, and Alabama, among other Native American communities, make an infusion of toasted leaves or a decoction of the entire plant and use it as a laxative. The Seminole used yaupon as a psychological aid. They made a decoction of bark to treat dance sickness and nightmarish dreams in old people.
Did You Know
Yaupon is a popular landscape plant often trimmed into an evergreen hedge.
The red berry branches are popular at Christmas for holiday decorations.
The flowers attract bees.
The berries are an important food for many birds including the American duck, Florida duck, morning doves, ruffed grouse, eastern bluebird, wild turkey, American robin, gray catbird, bobwhite quail among others.
Mammals that eat the fruit include the nine-banded armadillo, American black bear, gray fox, raccoon, skunks, and whitetail deer.
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