Ilex arenicola Ashe. clade: Clade D3. Scrub Holly. Hab: Florida scrub. Dist: Baker and Clay counties (ne. FL) south to sc. peninsular FL (Glades County).
Origin/Endemic status: Endemic
Taxonomy Comments: The name I. arenicola W.W. Ashe has priority over I. cumulicola Small by about a month. Interestingly, both recent phylogenetic studies of Ilex (Selbach-Schnadelbach et al. 2009; Manen et al. 2010) show I. arenicola (as I. cumulicola) as less closely related to I. opaca than to other taxa, such as I. cassine, I. myrtifolia, and/or I. rubra S. Watson (of Mexico); though neither study was intended to address species-level taxonomy, these results further undermine the idea that I. arenicola is conspecific with I. opaca and should therefore be treated at infraspecific rank.
Synonymy: = Ilex cumulicola Small – S; = Ilex opaca Aiton ssp. arenicola (Ashe) A.E.Murray – Clark (2023); = Ilex opaca Aiton var. arenicola (Ashe) Ashe – Fl7, K3, K4, WH3
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