Berberis julianae, Wintergreen Barberry

Size: shrub, 6-8' average height at maturity, 10' spread

Leaves: evergreen, opposite, 1.5-2" long, .33-.75" wide, simple, lanceolate or oblanceolate or narrow elliptic, broadset at or above the middle, margins spiny serrate, shiny dark green above, dull green below, may bronze in winter

Twigs: inner bark bright yellow, large 3-parted thorns

Flowers: monoecious, yellow

Fruit: .33" shiny blue-black fruit

Bark: yellowish on young stems, later yellow-gray or yellow-brown

Buxus microphylla, Littleleaf Boxwood

Size: shrub, 3-4' average height and spread at maturity

Leaves: evergreen, opposite, simple, .33-1" long, .13-.33" wide, margins entire, rounded or emarginate tips, obovate to lance-obovate, dark green, yellow-brown in fall

Twigs: slender, green, grooved between each pair of leaves, appear 4-angled

Flowers: monoecious, petals absent, fragrant, in terminal or axillary clusters

Fruit: 3-celled capsule with shiny black seeds

Buxus sempervirens, Common Boxwood

Size: shrub, 3-4' average height and spread at maturity

Leaves: evergreen, opposite, .5-1" long, .25-.5" wide, simple, elliptic or ovate, obtuse or emarginate at tip, margins entire, petiole very short, darker green on top, lighter on bottom, usually shiny, new growth may be blue-gray-green, may blacken in severe winters

Twigs: squarish

Flowers: monoecious, creamy yellow, in clusters developing from leaf axils, no petals, makes with 4 sepals, females with 6

Fruit: .33" 3-celled capsule

Bark: gray

Ilex crenata, Japanese Holly

Size: shrub, 5-10' average height and spread at maturity

Leaves: evergreen, alternate, .5-1.25" long, .25-.63" wide, simple, elliptic to obovate, usually broadest at middle, leaf margin serrate from base to tip, tips acute, small black stipules on each side of leaf scar or petiole base, shiny dark green throughout the year, underside dotted with black glands

Twigs: green on current growth, gray-brown later, young stems often pubescent

Flowers: dioecious, greenish white with 4 petals in leaf axils of new growth, males in small clusters, females solitary, bloom in May or June, not very attractive but useful for identifying sex of tree

Fruit: .25" round black drupe, lasting through winter

Bark: gray-green or gray-brown on older wood

Ilex glabra, Inkberry

Size: shrub, 6-8' average height at maturity, 8-10' spread

Leaves: evergreen, alternate, .75-2"long, .33-.63" wide, simple, obovate or obovate lanceolate, usually with 2 or 3 notches in leaf margin on each side of apex, tips acute or slightly obtuse, small black stipules on each side of leaf scar or petiole base, shiny dark green

Twigs: slender, green, powery, lenticels rounded with vertical slits

Flowers: dioecious, greenish white, males in small clusters, females solitary, inconspicuous

Fruit: berry-like black drupe

Ilex opaca, American Holly

Size: tree, 40-50' average height at maturity, 18-40' spread

Buds: ovoid, imbricate, .13-.17" long, greenish brown

Leaves: evergreen, alternate, 1.5-3.5" long, 1-2.75" wide, simple, elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, with large teeth, dull or dark green above, yellowish green underside

Twigs: green when young, circular raised lenticels when older, solid watery-green pith

Flowers: dioecious, males in cymes, females solitary or in groups of 3

Fruit: dull red, rounded, .25"-.5" on .25" stalk, persisting into winter

Bark: brown, rough

Ilex x meserveae, Blue Holly

Size: shrub, 8' average height and spread at maturity

Leaves: evergreen, alternate, 1.5-2.5" long, .75-1.25" wide (varies with cultivar), simple, leathery, margins flattened with a few short spines, small black stipules on each side of leaf scar or petiole base, dull or shiny dark green

Twigs: stout, often with slight ridges, reddish purple

Flowers: dioecious

Fruit: various shades of red or yellow, up to .33"

Kalmia latifolia, Mountain Laurel

Size: shrub, 7-15' average height and spread at maturity

Buds: terminal or pseudoterminal bud, from which flowers emerge, lateral buds hidden beneath petioles

Leaves: evergreen, essentially alternate, sometimes opposite or whorled, 2-5" long, .5-1.5" wide, simple, elliptic to lanceolate, margins entire, tip acute to short acuminate, shiny dark green on top, yellow-green underside

Twigs: sticky when young, pith solid light green, bark of older stems cracks exposing lighter colors

Flowers: monoecious, interesting flat 1" wide flowers in terminal clusters up to 6" across, colors vary from whites to pinks to reds to purples, filaments are bent under tension and the anthers they support are tucked into notches in the petals, blooms May-June

Fruit: five-valved capsule that persists through winter

Bark: gray brown, with stripes or ridges and furrows

Leucothoe fontanesiana, Drooping Leucothoe

Size: shrub, 3-6' average height and spread at maturity

Leaves: evergreeen, alternate, 2-5" long, 1-1.5" wide, simple, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, acuminate tips, ciliate or serrulate on margins, new growth bright green, bronze, or purple, later shiny dark green, may be bronzy or purplish in winter

Twigs: long and slender with few lateral branches, shiny with solid brown pith

Flowers: monoecious, white, fragrant, shpated like slender urns, .25-.33" long, in axillary racemes to 3", blooms in April and May

Fruit: .17" dry 5-valved capsule

Bark: greenish, reddish, or purplish

Magnolia grandiflora, Southern Magnolia

Size: tree, 60-80' average height at maturity, 30-50' spread

Buds: terminal (flower) bud .75-1.25" long with brownish, dense, woolly pubescence

Leaves: evergreeen, alternate, 5-10" long, width often less than half the length

Twigs: first year's growth often coarse with brownish woolly pubescence (however pubescence not always present), sometimes small vertical lenticels present

Flowers: perfect, 8-12" wide, fragrant, white

Fruit: 3-5" long, cylindrical aggregate of follicles (appears cone-like), seeds bright orange-red

Bark: smooth, gray (older trees may develop large scaly plates)

Mahonia aquifolium, Oregon Grapeholly

Size: shrub, 3-6' average height and spread at maturity

Buds: small with the exception of terminal, which is ovoid and 6-scaled, flower bud clusters catkinlike, terminal or lateral near apex of stem

Leaves: evergreen but often winter-burned in some areas, alternate, often compactly arranged, 6-12" long, each leaflet 1.5-3.5" long, pinnately compound with 5-13 leaflets, each leaflet sessile, ovate to oblong ovate, tipped with spines, spiny dentate leaf margins, very stiff, like a holly leaf, shiny green or purplish, tan and brittle when winter-burned

Twigs: leaf base partially encircles twig, inner bark yellow

Flowers: monoecious, bright yellw, in terminal racemes to 2-3" by 2-3", bloom in April

Fruit: bloomy blue-black berry up to .5", resembing a grape

Pieris japonica, Japanese Pieris

Size: shrub, 8-12' average height at maturity, 6-8' spread

Buds: flower buds in terminal clusters

Leaves: evergreeen, alternate (but may appear whorled), 1.25-3.5" long, .33-.75" wide, simple, narrow obovatish, margins crenate-serrate bronzy when emerging, later shiny dark green

Twigs: green to yellow-green

Flowers: monoecious, .25", urn-shaped, in pendulous clusters up to 6" long, bloom in spring

Fruit: 5-valved capsule, .25", persists into winter

Bark: gray to gray-brown, vertically fissured

Prunus laurocerasus, Common Cherrylaurel

Size: shrub, 10-18' average height at maturity, 25-30' spread

Buds: solitary or collaterally multiple, sessile, subglobuse or mostly ovoid with about 6 exposed scales

Leaves: alternate, 2-6" long, about .33 to .5" wide, glabrous, usually oblong to obovate-oblong, cuneate to round at base, obscurely serrate to nearly entire, lustrous medium to dark green

Twigs: slender or moderate, green, subterete, somewhat angled from the nodes, typical cherry odor when bruised

Flowers: perfect, white, each flower .25-.33" across, 20 stamens

Fruit: conical round drupe, purple to black, .33-.5" long, blooms in summer, most often lost among the leaves

Pyracantha coccinea, Scarlet Firethorn

Size: shrub, 10-15' average height at maturity

Leaves: evergreen, alternate, variable, 1-2.5" on long shoots, .5"-1.5" on flowering shoots, from .25-.75" wide, simple, narrow elliptic to lanceolate, tip acute, margins crenulate or serrulate, shiny dark green, brownish in winter in exposed site

Twigs: often have leaflike stipules at base of petiole adjacent to winter bud, branches usually thorny at apex with additional thorns at side down the stem, woolly when young, shiny brown later

Flowers: monoecious, .3", whitish, in clusters up to 2" wide, unpleasant smell, blooms May-June

Fruit: in flat-topped clusters, .25" wide, orange-red, usually don't persist into winter

Rhododendron 'P.J.M.', P.J.M. Rhododendron

Size: shrub, 3-6' average height and spread at maturity

Buds: rounded, much smaller than those of R. catawbiense

Leaves: evergreen, alternate, 1-2.5", simple, usually elliptic, dark green above, changing to purple in winter, essentially glabrous, thick, leather, rusty-scaly beneath

Twigs: 1 bundle scar

Flowers: monoecious, vivid lavendar pink, many cultivars, flowers heavily in mid to late April

Fruit: dry capsule, sets little to no seed

Rhododendron catawbiense, Catawba Rhododendron

Size: shrub, 6-10' average height at maturity

Buds: flower buds large, .5" long, pointed, without bracts at base

Leaves: evergreen, alternate, 3-5" long, 1-2" wide, simple, broad elliptic, obtuse, mucronulate tip, margines entire, dark green, whitish underside

Twigs: yellow green, changing to brown with age, glabrous, 1 bundle scar

Flowers: monoecious, lilac purple with yellow green markings inside corolla, but many cultivars with flowers of blue, pink, white, rose, salmon, yellow, etc, 1.5" long, 2.5" wide, borne in clusters to 6" wide, bloom middle to late May.

Fruit: 5-valved dry capsule

Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron

Size: shrub, 15-20' average height and spread at maturity

Buds: flower buds large with conspicuous leaf-like bracts at base

Leaves: evergreen, alternate, 4-8" long, simple, broadest above middle, dark green on top, greenish of brown-pubescent underside

Twigs: 1 bundle scar

Flowers: monoecious, rose, purple-pink to white, spotted with olive green to orange, 1-2" across, bloom in June

Fruit: dry capsule

Bark: brown with small ridges and furrows, trunks somewhat twisted