About

Ilex vomitoria, commonly known as yaupon () or yaupon holly, is a species of holly that is native to southeastern North America. The word yaupon was derived from the Catawban yą́pą, from yą- tree + pą leaf. Another common name, cassina, was borrowed from Timucua (despite this, it usually refers to Ilex cassine). The Latin name was given by early European observers who misunderstood Indigenous purification ceremonies—where vomiting was part of the ritual—and incorrectly assumed that the plant itself was emetic.

The plant was traditionally used by Native Americans and Euro-American colonists to make an infusion containing caffeine and theobromine. This drink went by different names, such as "cassina," "beloved drink," or "white drink" among natives and "Carolina tea" or "South Seas tea" among colonists. Today, it is also known as yaupon tea.

Where it grows

I. vomitoria occurs in the southeastern and south-central United States from the Eastern Shore of Virginia south to Florida and west to Oklahoma and Texas. It is also native to Cuba, and a disjunct population occurs in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. It generally occurs in coastal areas in well-drained, sandy soils, and can be found on the upper edges of brackish and salt marshes, sandy hammocks, coastal sand dunes, inner-dune depressions, sandhills, maritime forests, nontidal forested wetlands, well-drained forests, and pine flatwoods.

Other Ilex plants

English holly · Dahoon · Ilex chapaensis · Ilex chinensis · Large gallberry · Japanese holly · Marsh Holly · Possumhaw · Inkberry · Guayusa · Elegance female holly · Ilex kaushue