Description: Evergreen, thorny shrub with olive-green leaves and persistent red berries 
Height: To 20 ft, usually 5 to 10 ft. 
Flowers: Small, unisexual on same or separate plants, in axillary clusters; at intervals throughout the year. 
Fruit: Clusters of persistent, round, red 2 to 8 seeded berries 
Foliage: Evergreen, simple, alternate or clustered, variably sized, oval, olive-green or darker and paler beneath 
Spines: Single, slender, straight spines of variable length Bark: Smooth when immature, breaking into scales later, gray to brown. 
Growth Rate: Slow to medium 

Requirements: 
Sun: Shade to full sun Soil: Various 
Drainage: Well 
Water: Low, drought tolerant 
Maintenance: Little 
Propagation: Seed, softwood cutting 

Native Habitat: Palm groves, resaca banks, brushy thickets, clay lomas 

Wildlife Use: 
Fruit - birds Comments: Attractive specimen shrub with contrasting olive-green and persistent red to purple berries