Winterberry: yes and no

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Ilex decidua is a small tree that I’ve usually called possumhaw, but another vernacular name is winterberry. The winter part is true enough, as the tree’s many small but bright fruits typically hang on through January and February and brighten those bleak months. Technically speaking, however, the fruits are drupes, not berries.

This photograph is from January 20th in the parking lot of the H.E.B. supermarket on Wells Branch Parkway near the Austin-Pflugerville border. Notice the loose nest at the lower right.

© 2014 Steven Schwartzman