Safety note: Berries are mildly toxic to humans but readily eaten by birds.
Inkberry is a native evergreen holly shrub that produces small, glossy black berries that persist through winter and provide critical food for overwintering birds. It forms dense thickets in wet, acidic soils and is increasingly planted in rain gardens and coastal landscaping for its tolerance of salt spray, flooding, and deer pressure. It is one of the best native shrubs for wildlife in the eastern United States.
Habitat
Coastal wetlands, pine flatwoods, swamp margins, and moist sandy soils of the eastern United States
Diet
Berries eaten by cedar waxwings, mockingbirds, hermit thrushes, and many other birds
How common
Common
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