Ilex cornuta 'Carissa' is a small plant with a precise purpose. A compact, dense, broadleaf evergreen, it grows 3 to 4 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide, with alternate, glossy, dark green leaves that carry just a single tiny spine at each tip. The foliage has the quality of something polished rather than grown, and the resemblance to Natal plum (Carissa macrocarpa) that inspired its name is immediately apparent: a similar evenness, a similar discipline of form. Clusters of fragrant white flowers appear in spring, and while the plant rarely fruits, bright red berries occasionally appear in fall and winter. One habit worth knowing: it can revert to a 'Rotunda' leaf form with many marginal spines, and these reversions should be pruned away before they take over.

Carissa holly thrives in sun or partial shade in slightly acidic, well-drained soils through zones 6 to 9. It is drought- and heat-tolerant once established, deer-resistant, and requires almost no pruning to maintain its shape. Fertilize in late winter or early spring to sustain good leaf color and steady growth. In commercial and residential plantings alike, it excels as a low mass planting, a hedge, or a neat foundation shrub. Its dark, even foliage serves as a calm backdrop to flowering plants in a mixed border, asking little and contributing much to the composition around it.