Ilex purpurea Hassk.

The date 1810 is claimed for the introduction of Ilex purpurea (Hu 1949a, Krüssmann 1985a, Galle 1997), but in view of the confusion with the mysterious I. chinensis this date should be regarded with suspicion. It seems most likely that it was introduced from Japan (where it is probably not native) in the mid-nineteenth century, and it has undoubtedly been reintroduced on numerous occasions since. In China the fruiting shoots are an important household decoration at Chinese New Year, their glossy green leaves and abundant scarlet berries providing the same cheering winter colour as do Western hollies at Christmas. As a horticultural subject, I. purpurea is a very attractive tree, forming a dense canopy above a pale trunk; its purplish flowers are a curiosity in the normally white-flowered genus. The young growth is said to be bright pink (Hillier & Coombes 2002). It is widely and increasingly cultivated in the southeastern United States, where it can reach at least 15 m, and clearly enjoys the summer heat and humidity there. It has been assumed to be somewhat tender, but as usual, provenance matters, and some stocks are hardier than others. Of numerous accessions at Arboretum Bokrijk, those from China are the hardiest and some are 3–4 m tall (J. Van Meulder, pers. comm. 2007). A male clone has been grown at the Washington Park Arboretum for about 60 years and makes a beautiful evergreen tree there (Zone 8) (R. Hitchin, pers. comm. 2007). Hogan (2008) reports that a clone from the US National Arboretum is fully hardy in Zone 7 conditions, but in general it will do best where temperatures do not fall much below –10ºC. In the United Kingdom it is slow-growing and is defoliated by hard winters (Hillier & Coombes 2002) but there are several good male specimens at the Hillier Gardens, the largest of which was 10.5 m tall in 2007, with two main stems. It has evidently appreciated the recent warm summers and mild winters, having grown from 7.8 m in 2001.