''Ilex mitis'' (commonly called Cape holly, African holly, waterboom or umDuma) is a tall, dense, evergreen tree that is indigenous to

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

and

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. It makes an excellent fast-growing

hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced (3 feet or closer) shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate ...

for gardens - growing tall, straight and dense.

Appearance

If not pruned, ''Ilex mitis'' can grow to a height of 20 meters or more. Its trunk is straight, grey or brown and usually spotted while it produces a dense, even canopy. Young growth and leaf-stalks tend to be purple or red. The simply shaped, pointed, shiny-green leaves have wavy margins that are sometimes slightly serrated. The tree can be identified by its purple or maroon leaf stalks and the leaves’ strongly impressed midribs.
The small, white, scented

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s appear in spring. Ilex mitis is

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

, with separate male and female trees.
The bright red

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s ripen in autumn, creating a colourful display and attracting a variety of birds.

Range and habitat

This is the only holly (''Ilex'') species native to

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

. It has a wide but discontinuous distribution in west, central, east, and southern Africa. It has an

Afromontane The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions o ...

distribution. In tropical Africa it is mostly found at higher elevations, growing as high as 3,150 meters. In West Africa it is found in high-elevation forests in the

Guinea Highlands The Guinea Highlands is a densely forested mountainous plateau extending from central Guinea through northern Sierra Leone and Liberia to western Ivory Coast. The highlands include a number of mountains, ranges and plateaus, including the Fouta Dj ...

of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and in the Cameroon Highlands of Nigeria and Cameroon. It inhabits the islands of

Bioko Bioko (; ; ; historically known as Fernando Pó, ) is an island of Equatorial Guinea. It is located south of the coast of Cameroon, and northwest of the northernmost part of mainland Equatorial Guinea. Malabo, on the north coast of the is ...

, Sao Tomé, and

Príncipe Príncipe (; ) is the smaller, northern major island of the country of São Tomé and Príncipe lying off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. It has an area of (including offshore islets) and a population of 7,324 at the 2012 Cens ...

in the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea (French language, French: ''Golfe de Guinée''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Golfo de Guinea''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Golfo da Guiné'') is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez i ...

. It is found throughout the highlands of eastern Africa, including the

Ethiopian Highlands The Ethiopian Highlands (also called the Abyssinian Highlands) is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , whil ...

and the highlands bordering the Great Rift Valley. It is also native to the central highlands of

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

and the highlands of

. In southern Africa it inhabits the

Eastern Highlands :''"Eastern Highlands" also refers to Eastern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea, and part of the Great Dividing Range, Australia.'' The Eastern Highlands, also known as the Manica Highlands, is a mountain range on the border of Zimbabwe ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. In

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

it grows naturally in all provinces, from

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

in the south to the border with Zimbabwe. It is usually found growing on the banks of rivers and in moist spots in Afro-montane forest, as low as sea level along the southern coast. It is most often found in moist montane forests and in riparian forests. It is also found in high-elevation thickets, and in open-canopied forests in association with ''

Podocarpus latifolius ''Podocarpus latifolius'' (real yellowwood, broad-leaved yellowwood, or South African yellowwood, , , , ) is a large evergreen tree up to 35 m high and 3 m trunk diameter, in the conifer family Podocarpaceae; it is the type species of t ...

'' and '' Syzygium guineense''. In Ethiopia it grows in association with '' Galiniera saxifraga'' between 1,950 and 2,340 meters elevation. Young trees grow best in sun or light shade, and mature trees tolerate drought and frost.

Ecology

In southern Africa trees are pollinated by wasps and bees. Seeds are likely dispersed by birds.

Varieties

There are two accepted varieties.''Ilex mitis'' (L.) Radlk.
''

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

'', Kew Science. Accessed 12 September 2022. ''Ilex mitis'' var. ''mitis'' covers most of the species' range. ''Ilex mitis'' var. ''schliebenii'' is limited to the Uluguru Mountains and Lukwangule Plateau of Tanzania.''Ilex mitis'' var. ''schliebenii'' Loes.
''

'', Kew Science. Accessed 12 September 2022. Var. ''schleibenii'' is threatened with habitat loss from forest clearance for timber harvesting and agriculture, and its conservation status is assessed as vulnerable.

Growing ''Ilex mitis''

This is a fast-growing tree, growing nearly a meter a year in ideal conditions. It grows especially well in wet areas like beside lakes or rivers and it tolerates frost, making it suitable for colder climates. Fresh seed will usually germinate, but should first be dried out a bit. If kept moist after planting, the young plants usually sprout several weeks later. It transplants well, but needs to be protected from drying out and direct sun whilst young. It has no known diseases or pests, though in the wild it is one of the favourite foods of

elephants Elephants are the Largest and heaviest animals, largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian ele ...

Pictures

File:Ilex mitis tree - Cape Town 3.JPG, A small ''Ilex mitis'', growing un-pruned as a feature tree. File:Ilex mitis - Cape Holly - foliage.JPG, Foliage detail File:Ilex mitis - blossoms - 2.jpg, Ilex mitis blossoms.

References

External links

''Ilex mitis'' at PlantZAfrica.com
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2716835 mitis Trees of Africa Flora of South Tropical Africa Trees of South Africa Afromontane flora Flora of the Madagascar subhumid forests Flora of the Madagascar ericoid thickets Garden plants of Africa Plants used in bonsai Ornamental trees