Virtually all of the wild winterberry bushes (Ilex verticillata) have now dropped their leaves, revealing large blushes of berries on the subdued November landscape.
It looks like this year will be an exceptionally good one for this wildlife food.
Winterberry fruit is a major ingredient in nature’s winter survival kit. The small red berries reportedly feed at least 49 species of animals, especially birds, but also including deer, raccoons, and small rodents. The wildlife tend to eat these berries later in the winter after they have consumed more nutritious foods. This is a good deal for those of us who like to see a few bright colors in the winter woods.
The berries grow only on the females of this native deciduous holly, but they are proof that at least one gray fertilizing male is nearby (with, one likes to imagine, a proud smile on his face).
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on November 9, 2021.)