About Ilex crenata Thunb.
Ilex crenata Thunb. is an evergreen shrub that typically reaches 3–4 m in height, rarely growing as tall as 10 m, with a trunk diameter of up to 20 cm. Its leaves are small, glossy dark green, 10–30 mm long and 10–17 mm broad. They have a crenate (wavy) margin, which is sometimes spiny. This species is dioecious, meaning individual plants are either male or female, and produces small white four-lobed flowers. The fruit is a black drupe (stone fruit) 5 mm in diameter that holds four seeds. It grows best in acidic soil with a pH between 3.8 and 6.0. Ilex crenata is native to temperate and subtropical regions of eastern China (including Hainan), Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the Himalayas (Nepal, India, Tibet), Myanmar, Vietnam, and Sakhalin, Russia. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant valued for its dense evergreen foliage, and is popular with both bonsai enthusiasts and suburban property developers. It looks superficially similar to boxwood, and is often used for the same purposes, such as low hedging. It can be easily told apart from boxwood by its alternate leaf arrangement, rather than the opposite leaf arrangement of boxwood. Numerous cultivars have been selected for different traits: some have variegated leaves (examples include 'Golden Gem' and 'Shiro-Fukurin'), some have dark green leaves (for example 'Green Lustre'), and some have greyish-green leaves (for example 'Bad Zwischenahn'). One cultivar, 'Ivory Hall', produces yellow fruit. Cultivars also differ in growth habit: some have an erect habit (examples include 'Chesapeake' and 'Sky Pencil'), some have a spreading habit (examples include 'Green Island' and 'Hetzii'), and some are dwarf (examples include 'Mariesii' and 'Stokes'). Two cultivars, 'Golden Gem' and 'Fastigiata' (of the Fastigiata Group), have been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
