+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ## yaupon {#yaupon .Title-Header}                                     |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| *Ilex vomitoria* Ait.                                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Plant Symbol = ILVO                                                   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

####### *Contributed By: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center*

### 

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.6993055555555556in"
height="1.7902777777777779in"}

William S. Justice @ PLANTS

### 

**[Caution]{.underline}**: Poisonous plant-berries can cause nausea,
vomiting, and diarrhea.

### Alternate names

Yaupon holly, cassena, cassina, cassine, evergreen cassena, evergreen
holly, Indian blackdrink, Christmas berry

### Uses

*Ethnobotanic*: Most if not all of the Native American tribes in the
Southeastern United States including the Alabama, Cherokee, Creek,
Natchez, and Seminole used Yaupon for medicinal as well as other
purposes. A decoction was made from the leaves and shoots, called "black
drink", which was used medicinally, ceremonially, and was also served as
a social drink. The leaves and shoots, which contain caffeine, were
roasted in an earthenware container over a fire, much like coffee beans
are roasted. The black drink was drunk socially and offered to visitors
to indicate friendly intensions. Its primary medicinal use was as an
emetic, to induce vomiting and as a purgative or laxative. It was taken
to cure "a tremor in the nerves." The drink was used in ceremonial
medicine as an emetic to "clear out the system and produce ceremonial
purity." In some tribes, women and boys were prohibited from imbibing
the drink. The Florida Seminoles still brew a "black drink" for their
annual Green Corn Dance, although it is not always made with Yaupon, but
from other plants. The plant was also used as a hallucinogen to "evoke
ecstasies." The bark was used to treat nightmares where the patient sees
ghosts and talks during sleep. Sore eyes were treated with eyewash made
by scraping off the inner bark and boiling it in water for several
hours. The wood was used to make arrows and ramrods that were used in
hunting and fishing. In addition to trading Yaupon with nearby
neighbors, Native American tribes in the Southeastern United States
probably increased the distribution of yaupon. There is evidence that
they transplanted and cared for the trees (see Hammett 1992 for
references).

*Wildlife*: The showy red berries of yaupon attract wildlife and are an
important food for many songbirds, gamebirds and waterfowl. Bluebirds,
catbirds, mockingbirds, robins, yellow-shafted flickers, red-naped
sapsuckers, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, white-throated sparrows and cedar
waxwings are among the many songbirds that feed on the berries. Florida
ducks, black ducks, mourning doves, ruffed grouse, bobwhite quail and
wild turkeys also consume the berries. Armadillos, black bears, gray
foxes, western foxes, raccoons and skunks eat the fruits. White-tailed
deer browse the foliage and twigs. The evergreen nature of the yaupon is
important to wildlife as it provides cover during the winter months.

### Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status (e.g. threatened or endangered
species, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values).

### Description

*General*: Holly Family (Aquifoliaceae). Yaupon is a native, perennial,
evergreen shrub or a small tree (8 m tall). The leathery leaf blades (1
to 2.5 cm long) are alternate, elliptical or oval with shallow teeth at
the margins. The upper surface is a lustrous green with a lighter green
lower surface. The leaves contain caffeine. Yaupon is the only native
plant in North America that contains caffeine. Flowers (5 to 5.5 mm)
with four greenish white petals appear from March through May. Blooms
appear on axillary clusters on year-old wood. Male flowers appear in
clusters while female flowers grow either solitarily or in pairs. Young
stems are covered with a purplish down which changes to whitish gray
with age. The bark is light in color, from white to gray. The heartwood
is hard and close-grained. Female plants have beautiful, round fruits
that are a translucent red (5 to 6 mm in diameter) and contain four
nutlets. The fruits frequently stay on the bush until the following
spring.

*Distribution*: Yaupon occurs in the Coastal Plain of the Southeastern
United States. For current distribution, please consult the Plant
Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.

*Habitat*: Yaupon generally occurs in coastal areas in well-drained
sandy soils. It can be found on the upper edges of brackish and salt
marshes, sandy hammocks, coastal sand dunes, inner-dune depressions,
sandhills, maritime forests, nontidal forested wetlands, well-drained
forests and pine flatwoods.

### Establishment

Yaupon is a picturesque tree with an upright stature and irregular
branches. The plants may be used as screens, hedges and mass plantings.
They make good specimen trees and can be espaliered or used as a topiary
plant. The trees are one of the toughest of the hollies, easy to
transplant, medium to fast growing and grow well on a variety of soils.
They can grow in dry to fairly wet soils and are tolerant of salt spray.
They make excellent plants for coastal areas but also do well a
considerable distance from the coast. Yaupon is better adapted to warmer
climates than other evergreen hollies. Be sure to include at least one
male plant in order to insure adequate pollination for fruit set.

### Management

The tree commonly forms thickets by sending up suckers that sprout from
the roots. The tree responds well to pruning and shearing. Limbs may be
removed in order to expose the bark, which is a lovely grayish white.

### Pests and Potential Problems

Yaupon has no serious pest or disease problems although leafminers have
been reported to occasionally be a problem.

### Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

These plant materials are readily available from commercial sources.
Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

### References

Bailey, L.H. & E.Z. Bailey 1976. *Hortus Third: A concise dictionary of
plants cultivated in the United States and Canada*. Simon and Schuster
Macmillan Co., New York, New York. 1290 pp.

Brown, R.C. 1994. *Florida's first people: 12,000 years of human
history*. Pineapple Press, Inc., Sarasota, Florida. 262 pp.

Dirr, M.A. 1998. *Manual of woody landscape plants. Fifth Edition*.
Stipes Publishing, Champaign, Illinois. 1187 pp.

Godfrey, R.K. & J.W. Wooten 1979. *Aquatic and wetland plants of
Southeastern United States*. Vol 2. University of Georgia Press, Athens,
Georgia. 933 pp.

Greene, W.F. & H.L. Blomquist 1953. *Flowers of the South: Native and
exotic*. University of North Carolina Press. Chapel Hill, North
Carolina. 208 pp.

Halfacre, R.G. & A.R. Showcroft 1979. *Landscape plants of the
Southeast*. Sparks Press, Raleigh, North Carolina. 325 pp.

Hammett, J.E. 1992. *The shapes of adaptation: Historical ecology of
anthropogenic landscapes in the Southeastern United States.* Landscape
Ecology 7(2): 123-135.

Martin, A.C., H.S. Zim & A.L. Nelson 1951. *American wildlife and
plants: A guide to wildlife food habits*. Dover Publications, New York.
500 pp.

Merrill, W. L. 1979. *The beloved tree:* Ilex vomitoria *among the
Indians of the Southeast and adjacent region* pp 40-82 *in* Charles M.
Hudson, Editor. Black Drink: A Native American Tea. University of
Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia. 175 pp.

Moerman, D.E. 1998. *Native American ethnobotany*. Timber Press,
Portland, Oregon. 927 pp.

Moerman, D.E. 1999. *Native American Ethnobotany Database: Foods, drugs,
dyes and fibers of native North American Peoples. The University of
Michigan-Dearborn.* \[Online\]. Available:

<http://www.umd.umich.edu/cgi-bin/herb>

(19 June 2001).

Neill, W.T. 1956. *Florida's Seminole Indians.* Second Edition. Great
Outdoors Publishing Co., St. Petersburg, Florida. 128 pp.

Small, J.K. 1933. *Manual of Southeastern flora*. University of North
Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 1554 pp.

Sturtevant, W.C. 1954. *The Mikasuki Seminole: medical beliefs and
practices*. Doctoral Dissertation, Yale University. 538 pp.

Swanton, J.R. 2000. *Creek religion and medicine*. University of
Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska. 684 pp.

Taylor, L.A. 1940. *Plants used as curatives by certain Southeastern
Tribes*. Botanical Museum of Harvard University, Cambridge,
Massachusetts.

88 pp.

Tiner, R.W. 1993. *Field guide to coastal wetland plants of the
Southeastern United States*. University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst.
328 pp.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research
Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory 2001, May. *Fire Effects Information*

*System*, \[Online\]. Available: <http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/>.
\[19 June 2001\].

Whitcomb, C.E. 1983. *Know it and grow it, II: A guide to the
identification and use of landscape plants*. Lacebark Publications,
Stillwater, Oklahoma. 740 pp.

Young, J.A. & C.G. Young 1992. *Seeds of woody plants in North America*.
Dioscorides Press, Portland, Oregon. 407 pp.

### Prepared By

## *Diana L. Immel*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, c/o

Environmental Horticulture Department, University of California, Davis,
California

### Species Coordinator

## *M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, c/o Environmental Horticulture
Department, University of California, Davis, California

Edited: 27sep01 jsp; 20may03 ahv; 060801 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

*The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in
all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national
origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual
orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases
apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require
alternative means for communication of program information (Braille,
large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA\'s [TARGET
Center](http://www.usda.gov/oo/target.htm) at 202-720-2600 (voice and
TDD).*

*To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of
Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence
Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (voice or
TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.*

*Read about [Civil Rights at the Natural Resources Convervation
Service](http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/civilrights/).*