Possumhaw holly is a small, multi-trunked understory tree that fills the mid-story layer of a riparian buffer between the tall canopy above and the grasses and sedges at the water’s edge. It tolerates both the periodic flooding and the deep shade found along a healthy creek bottom.
Female plants produce bright red berries that persist through winter after the leaves drop, making them an important cold-season food source for songbirds and other wildlife at a time when little else is fruiting along the corridor.