Well the Latin name is incorrect either way, so that doesn't help much. Given that, I wouldn't necessarily assume that just because part of the cultivar name was left off, that it wasn't dwarf. The bad thing is that it might be mislabeled even if you found one that had the correct cultivar name. It isn't unusual to find mislabeled plants, especially at big box stores. Without evaluating it over time, I don't know how you could tell. If you had bought it from a local nursery, you'd have a better chance of getting it properly ID'd.

That's a good point, Brandon. I read in another forum that one way to tell the difference is that the dwarfs have their berries on the inside of their branches whereas the original burfords have them more toward the tips of the branches. Does anyone know if this is the case? Only one of the ones I bought has any berries, and they are definitely toward the interior of the plant.

Yes, greenman, this is the case. The dwarf burfords have their berries on the interiors of the branches. The large ones have their berries on the tips, in big clusters. I grow the dwarfs, but the big ones are everywhere here in the south.

How fast do regular Burford hollies grow? I'm planting a privacy hedge. Thanks

I am looking to purchase one more holly to match my other side holly. I have narrowed it down to Burford but not sure if it's Dwarf or Regular. The current 7 foot tall privacy hedge holly picture of leaves and berries attached. Can someone please help me decide which it is? If what you're saying about berries is true, they're further in, but this could also be because the other stems have grown since a clipping.

8 year old post ...

one way to insure you get the exact plant .. would be to propagate your own ...

so i took the latin name.. ilex.. added the word propagation .. and see link...

and note.. according to one of the links.. now seems to be a good time to do it ... and you use old wood ...

and do note.. you could do more than one cutting per pot .. and then repot.. after they root ...

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ilex+propagation&t=ffcm&ia=web

shastings89: You probably should start your own thread as this one is so old.

That said, likely what you have in the pic is Ilex cornuta 'Dwarf Burford'. Yes, they will grow large with time, but generally, their leaves are smaller and spineless (with a small spine at the tip), compared to regular full-size Burford. Regular Burford easily forms a small tree and is much more vigorous.

Dwarf Burford holly is super cheap and easy to find anywhere in the south. I would not mess with cuttings.

There is a remote chance your holly is one called 'Needlepoint'. That one grows more upright and a bit faster than 'Dwarf Burford'. It has a slightly larger leaf with a fairly prominant point or spine at the end of the leaf. If you go to a nursery, you should see the difference. Take a sprig of your holly in with you.

This is regular Ilex cornuta 'Burfordii' showing occasional spines on the leaf.