With Christmas just around the corner, preparations for the big day are in full swing. Just last weekend I visited my parents’ house in South Amherst and I participated in a new activity: card making. My mother has become a real fan of creating greeting cards by using various different cutouts that are then glued to a blank card. The amazing part about this was the sheer number of dies that she has collected over the years.

There were 3-ring binders full of different choices for different seasons. For the Christmas holiday there were poinsettias, snowflakes, deer, songbirds and a selection of evergreen trees to chose from. Then there were the traditional ornaments, sleighs, Santas and other decorative items appropriate for the occasion. I don’t want to spoil the surprise headed toward friends and family, but I found it to be a very relaxing and satisfying activity on a winter afternoon.

As we sat around the table making our creative choices, I found myself occasionally looking up and glancing around the room. Although the decorations were still in the process of being installed, I did notice that there was a charming centerpiece on the dining room table that featured artificial holly branches supporting some taper candles. “Deck the halls with boughs of holly,” was playing quietly in the back of my mind and I found myself wondering when it was that I last saw a holly tree. I eventually decided that it had been years, but then I remembered a wild relative of the holly tree that I see almost every day.

The winterberry (Ilex verticillata) is a shrub that many of us may have become somewhat blind to. This is not because it is an unattractive plant, but rather because you might stop paying attention to something that you see every day. Although it can grow well in many different conditions, “wild” winterberry bushes tend to be found in wetland habitats. As my mother would say, “they like to have their feet wet” and they are often found growing in areas where shallow water persists through the year.

In the spring and summer the plants basically disappear into the background, but in the autumn and winter they stand out from the crowd because of their gorgeous red berries. This is actually the origin of the common name “winterberry” and there is no confusing these plants with anything else. If you drive by a wetland area where there are a few cattails that have turned brown and you see some dazzling scarlet berries covering a bush, or two, then you have found yourself a winterberry.

One curious characteristic of this gorgeous native plant is the fact that individual winterberry bushes are either male or female. In plants this is somewhat unusual and another local example of this condition would be the pussy willow (Salix discolor). Both plants live in wetland areas and both are “dioecious,” which is the fancy term for single sexed. The interesting contrast between the two species is the fact that it is the male pussy willows that have the decorative flowers in the spring, while it is the female winterberries that have the eye-grabbing red berries in the winter.

To get the photos for today’s column I simply had to drive a couple miles from my house to a roadside pool that has water throughout the year. This might be called a pond if it were much larger than the floor of my garage, but the area is so small that I call it a pool. There are a variety of wetland plants growing in and around the water, but the winterberries grab all of the attention.

The waxy, red berries persist for weeks and as a result there are a wide variety of birds that will visit the bushes in the winter in search of food. When I got out of my car to take today’s photo I noticed a small bird fly up from one of the bushes. When I looked up I was happily surprised to see an entire flock of cedar waxwings perched in the branches of a red maple tree growing next to the pool. They seemed entirely indifferent to my presence as I took photos and I am sure that when I finally drove off they returned to their feast. I only had my small lens on my camera, or else there might be a photo of a cedar waxwing today, too.

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

Serious barn fire averted due to quick response in Shelburne

Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls to open on plant sale day, May 11

Political newcomer defeats Shores Ness for Deerfield Selectboard seat

Roundup: Pioneer baseball wins Suburban League West title following 2-0 win over Hopkins

As I See It: Between Israel and Palestine: Which side should we be on, and why?

Employee pay, real estate top Erving Town Meeting warrant

It doesn’t feel like we are going to have a white Christmas, but that comes with a couple of hidden advantages. We might not go sledding during family visits, but we might be able to go for a family walk if the weather permits. Many of the trails near my parents’ house wind their way around the countryside and eventually pass near ponds and streams. Many of these areas also provide perfect habitat for winterberry bushes.

Other opportunities to view the species come when we jump into our vehicles and head out “over the river and through the woods.” Keep your eyes peeled for the bright red berries of the winterberry as you pass by wetland areas that are adjacent to the roads. Once you actually make a conscious effort to look for the bushes, you might be surprised by how many you actually see. As always, stay safe, enjoy yourself and I’ll talk with you again next week.

Bill Danielson has been a professional writer and nature photographer for 26 years. He has worked for the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Nature Conservancy and the Massachusetts State Parks and he currently teaches high school biology and physics. For more in formation visit his website at www.speakingofnature.com, or go to Speaking of Nature on Facebook.