This particular species of broadleaf evergreen is part of a broad range of species as well as hybrids used as ornamental landscape plants. One of my ‘seedy’ friends sent me several types of seeds harvested from older arboretum collections. I love the flavor of the grape flavored fruit. It’s intense. One small fruit fills your mouth. Winter was a bit rough on the foliage on many of them but eventually I ended up with two good colonies of Dwarf Grape Holly and possibly a hybrid of it with a strong trunk and strong lateral branching. My thought is since it is related to Berberis it might contain loads of anthocyanins and be vitamin rich. In full flower, it is beautiful.

Tall robust selection.

Each of these types provides a window into a new crop with potential as an understory fruiting plant into zone 5. It is not a common ornamental anymore and deserves a wider audience as a fruit bearing plant. Selections can be rooted easily. Even the species can be grown without breeding. I once saw a fantastic fruiting type on a college campus in central Michigan. It was protected from wind from a large building. The fruit quantity was the most I have ever seen on a single shrub. Often these individual plants vary in production so heavier fruiting selections can easily be grown, selected and propagated from rooted cuttings. The soil does not have to be that acidic. Mine are growing in a ph of 6 and mulched with wood chips every three years. They do produce some stolons and these can be used to create a more robust planting or for propagation.