Cedar Creek Natural History Area

Plants of Cedar Creek

    Ilex verticillata (Winterberry) is a common shrub of the Holly Family (if varieties are distinguished, the one in MN is var. padifolia).  This dioecious species is found at the margins of various wetland types and within shrubby rich fens and swamps.  Female plants bear brilliant red berries in autumn, but unlike the American holly of eastern US (I. opaca), the leaves on ours are dull and veiny.  Nemopanthus mucronatus (Swamp Holly) is a hard-to-find shrub in mixed tamarack-hardwood swamps.  Although other locations are more typical, a few can be found in the tamarack-black spruce swamp at Beckman Lake.