Creeping False Holly: A Mysterious Native Ground Cover Worth Knowing
Meet creeping false holly (Jaltomata procumbens), one of those intriguing native plants that seems to fly under the radar of most gardeners. This perennial forb might not be the flashiest addition to your garden, but it represents the fascinating diversity of our native flora—even if it keeps many of its secrets to itself.
What Exactly is Creeping False Holly?
Creeping false holly is a native perennial forb, which means it’s a non-woody plant that comes back year after year. As a forb, it lacks the significant woody tissue that shrubs and trees have, instead maintaining its perennial nature through underground structures. The creeping in its name suggests a low-growing, spreading habit that could make it useful as a ground cover.
You might also see this plant referenced by its botanical synonym, Saracha procumbens, in older botanical literature.
Where Does It Call Home?
This native species has a rather unusual distribution pattern, naturally occurring in Arizona and Maryland—quite a geographic leap! This scattered range suggests the plant may have very specific habitat requirements or represents remnant populations from a different climatic period.
The Mystery Plant Challenge
Here’s where creeping false holly gets interesting (and a bit frustrating for curious gardeners): it’s somewhat of a botanical mystery. Unlike many popular native plants, detailed information about its growing requirements, appearance, and garden performance is surprisingly scarce. This could mean several things:
- It’s extremely rare in the wild
- It grows in very specific, hard-to-access habitats
- It hasn’t caught the attention of the horticultural community yet
- It may be challenging to cultivate outside its natural range
Should You Try Growing It?
The honest answer is: it’s complicated. While supporting native plants is always admirable, creeping false holly presents some challenges for the home gardener:
The case for growing it: As a native species, it’s adapted to North American conditions and could potentially support local ecosystems in ways we don’t yet fully understand. Native plants often require less water and maintenance once established.
The realistic challenges: Without clear information about its growing requirements, soil preferences, or care needs, successfully cultivating this plant would be largely experimental. Additionally, if it is indeed rare, finding ethically sourced plants or seeds could prove difficult.
What We Do Know
While many details remain elusive, we can piece together a few facts:
- It’s a perennial forb, so it should return each year
- The creeping habit suggests it spreads horizontally
- Being native to both desert Arizona and temperate Maryland indicates some adaptability to different climates
- As a forb, it likely produces flowers and possibly fruits
Alternative Native Options
If you’re drawn to the idea of a native ground cover but want something with more available information and garden-tested performance, consider these alternatives based on your region:
For Arizona gardeners: Look into native options like desert marigold (Baileya multiradiata) or trailing lantana (Lantana camara) varieties native to the region.
For Maryland and similar climates: Consider wild ginger (Asarum canadense), wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), or wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) for proven native ground cover options.
The Bottom Line
Creeping false holly represents the exciting frontier of native plant gardening—species that are part of our natural heritage but haven’t yet made the jump to mainstream horticulture. While it might not be the most practical choice for most gardeners right now, it reminds us that there’s still so much to discover about our native flora.
If you’re an adventurous gardener with experience growing unusual natives and happen to find ethically sourced material, it could be an interesting addition to a specialized native plant collection. Just be prepared for some trial and error, and consider it more of a botanical experiment than a sure-fire garden success.
For now, creeping false holly remains one of those plants that’s more interesting to know about than to actually grow—but isn’t that part of what makes native plant exploration so fascinating?
