The wood from the holly has been used to make furniture and other durable products. There are over two hundred different types of holly, but only two dozen are easily found in the Southwest. Over three million dollars' worth of holly cuttings are sold each year. Some of the different types of ornamental hollies include Berries Jubilee, Burford, Carissa, Dwarf Burford, possumhaw, Foster, blue holly, Nellie R. Stevens, and dwarf yaupon. The height ranges from 2 to 3 feet with dwarf yaupon to 40 feet plus with the American holly.
Most hollies are evergreens.
It is deciduous, which means it loses its leaves in the fall. In European households, spiny holly in the house means the husband rules for the next year, while smooth holly means the wife rules for the next year. Hollies do very well in the Southwest. Some are fairly inexpensive for theamount of winter color from the red berries. The fruit makes excellent wildlife food.