Yaupon Holly

Ilex vomitoria

Hills guide picknative · Hill Countrysold locallycaution

Yaupon Holly is a small tree native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 12–20 ft tall and 10–15 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and low to medium water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms white in mid spring. Evergreen — it holds its leaves through winter. Deer rarely browse it. Good for birds and butterflies.

Caution — people, pets. Berries cause vomiting if eaten in quantity — the species name is a warning. Fine as a landscape plant.

Will it grow in your yard?

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From our guide

Village of the Hills

Evergreen holly, native, in tree and dwarf forms. Female plants carry red berries through winter.

Why it works here

Genuinely adaptable — sun or shade, wet or dry, clay or limestone. Winter berries feed cedar waxwings and robins; dense growth gives nesting cover.

Watch out

Only female plants fruit; buy a named female if berries matter. Suckers from the base and will form a thicket if unmanaged.

The facts

10 sources

Type: Small tree
Sun: Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
Water: Low to medium
Height: 12–20 ft
Spread: 10–15 ft
Bloom: Mid Spring · white
Foliage: Evergreen
Soil: Takes caliche and clay · recorded on clay, gravelly, limestone, loam, moist, poor drainage, sand, well drained
Deer: High — deer rarely browse it. Rarely browsed
Wildlife: Supports birds and butterflies

Size, sun, water and foliage from the Village of the Hills guide; the rest resolved across sources.

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesSan Antonio Prairie

3,963 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Sold at local nurseries. Confirmed in stock at a Central Texas grower in these sizes:

3, 5, 7, 15, 30, 45, 65, 95, 200 gallonballed & burlappedboxed

From the growers we read so far — a short list, not the whole trade. Call ahead.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.