Don’t confuse nandina and holly

In the overall scheme of things, this is a minor item, but you put it smack-dab in the middle of the front page, so I cannot conquer the urge to mention it.

The caption to the large picture on the front page of the April 7 edition identifies the berries as being on a holly bush. It is not a holly. It is nandina, identifiable by several characteristics in the picture.  Nandina has no close botanical connection with holly.  The two species have very limited similarity.

This will apparently come as a surprise, but many shrubs other than holly have berries.  In the future, if you don’t really know what kind of bush it is, take the safe route and just say it’s a bush.

Bill Watson
Culpeper