Ilex vomitoria

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Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Family:AQUIFOLIACEAE
Species:Ilex vomitoria Aiton
Common Name:Yaupon Holly
Habitat:Maritime forests, sandhills, sandy pine woodlands, and flatwoods.
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Shrub
Duration:Perennial
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:ILVO
Plant Notes:Yaupon is a native evergreen shrub in the Holly family (Aquifoliaceae). It is native to the southern two thirds of Alabama. Yaupon occurs in sandhills, in long leaf pine woodlands, and in floodplain forest, often forming dense thickets in areas that are not burned. It is a multi-trunked shrub from eight to fifteen feet in height. The small evergreen leaves have rounded teeth along their margins. The flowers are small, white, and have four petals. The fruit is a red or orange drupe. A drink made from the leaves of the Yaupon was consumed by Native Americans and was called the “black drink” by Europeans. Leaves were picked near the time of consumption, then lightly roasted and seeped in boiling water until a dark brown color was obtained. Usually only males or high-ranking females were allowed to consume the black drink. The active ingredient in the drink was caffeine, and black drink contains 3 to 6 times the amount of caffeine as a similar amount of coffee. In some tribes the black drink was consumed daily while in others it was only consumed during rituals. Europeans noticed that participants drinking large quantities of the black drink would often vomit, hence the scientific name of this species. It is not known if vomiting was induced by the large quantities of black drink consumed, or if other herbs were added to the drink to induce vomiting. In South America a similar drink called Yerba mate is made from the leaves of Ilex paraguariensis A. St. Hil., and is still a popular beverage there. Yaupon tea was consumed in the United States as a substitute for tea or coffee when those were unavailable. Yaupon fruit are an important food source for many birds and small mammals. Yaupon is widely planted as an ornamental and many horticultural varieties are available including dwarf, weeping, and yellow fruited forms. Like most species in the genus, there are separate male and female plants. Only female plants will produce fruit.--A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Native, FAC (NWI)
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyAQUIFOLIACEAE - Holly family
Genus Ilex
Species Ilex vomitoria Aiton - Yaupon Holly

Citation

Citation Ilex vomitoria Aiton, Hort. Kew. 1: 170. 1789.
Basionym: **
Type: USA: FLORIDA: Without data (lectotype: Catesby, Nat. Hist. Carolina 2: t. 57. 1736). Lectotypified by González-Gutiérrez & Sierra-Calzado, in Greuter & Rankin, Fl. Republ. Cuba, ser. A. 9(1): 12. 2004.

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Ageria cassena Ageria cassena (Michaux) Rafinesque, Sylva Tellur. 47. 1838.Ilex cassena Michaux 1803. 
Ilex cassena Ilex cassena Michaux, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 229. 1803. "a Carolina ad Floridam"
Ilex ligustrina Ilex ligustrina Jacquin, Collectanea 4: 105. 1791 ("1790"). SOUTH CAROLINA

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Coffee, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Dallas, Elmore, Escambia, Etowah, Geneva, Greene, Houston, Lee, Macon, Madison, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Pike, Sumter, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Washington, Wilcox

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AMAL, AUA, BRIT, JSU, NY, SAMF, TROY, UNA, UNAF, USAM, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1896 - 1995

Barcode / Accession No.
County
Coll. Date
Collector &
Collection No.
Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used
Image
AUA000032219 Autauga Apr 1908 ANDREWS, ELIZABETH F.
 AUA
ILEX VOMITORIA AIT.
AUA000032218 Autauga Apr 1908 ANDREWS, ELIZABETH F.
 AUA
ILEX VOMITORIA AIT.
BRIT67084 Autauga 27 Sep 1965 McDaniel, Sidney
6996		 BRIT
Ilex vomitoria Aiton
BRIT71060 Autauga 04 Sep 1969 Kral, Robert
36890		 BRIT
Ilex vomitoria Aiton
AUA000032220 Autauga 7 Sep 1982 GUNN, SCOTT C.
1166		 AUA
ILEX VOMITORIA AIT.
UWAL0017923 Autauga 09 Nov 1985 Kral, Robert
73100		 UWAL
Ilex vomitoria Ait.
UWAL0000312 Autauga 23 Jun 2007 Keener, Brian R.
3719		 UWAL
Ilex vomitoria Aiton
TROY000041875 Autauga 08 Jan 2015 Diamond, Alvin R.
25825		 TROY
Ilex vomitoria Aiton
UWAL0018911 Autauga 08 Jun 2015 Diamond, Alvin R.
25825		 UWAL
Ilex vomitoria Aiton
UWAL0046150 Autauga 15 Sep 2016 Parker, Matthew R.
59		 UWAL
Ilex vomitoria Aiton
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