Inkberry Inkberry Holly

Inkberry is the native evergreen holly that provides year-round structure without the sharp, spiny leaves of traditional hollies. The foliage is smooth-edged, dark green, and glossy, refined rather than aggressive, on a suckering shrub that grows five to eight feet tall. Female plants produce small black berries in fall that persist through winter, which is where the common name originates. Native from Nova Scotia to Florida and west to Missouri and Texas, inkberry grows naturally in wet, acidic sites, swamps, bogs, and moist lowland woods.

In Western Washington, inkberry is one of the best evergreen shrubs for wet sites. It handles the poorly drained, acidic clay soils that challenge most broadleaf evergreens, and it tolerates seasonal flooding without complaint. That wet-site tolerance makes it ideal for rain gardens, bioswales, and the low spots in residential landscapes where other hollies would fail. 'Shamrock' is the standard compact selection, staying dense and rounded at three to four feet. One disease and one pest are tracked, nothing that threatens healthy specimens. The suckering habit means it will colonize an area over time, which you either manage with pruning or use intentionally for mass plantings. For a native, evergreen, wet-tolerant screening shrub, inkberry fills a niche that few other plants can match.