an herbal tea, commonly called black drink. Historically the ceremonial consumption often included vomiting, and Europeans deduced that yaupon caused it (hence the Latin name - Ilex vomitoria). The active ingredients, like those of the related yerba mate and guayusa plants, are caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline; the vomiting may have resulted from the great quantities in which they drank the beverage, coupled with fasting. Native Americans may have also used the infusion as a laxative. Ilex vomitoria usage by colonists for tea making and for medicinal uses in the Carolinas is documented by the early 18th century. In the English-speaking colonies, it was known variously as cassina, yaupon tea, Indian tea, Carolina tea, and Appalachian tea. Recently, the process of drying the leaves for consumption has been adopted by modern Americans, and yaupon is now commercially available. Ornamental Ilex vomitoria is a common landscape plant in the Southeastern United States. The most common cultivars are slow-growing shrubs popular for their dense, evergreen foliage and their adaptability to pruning into hedges of various shapes. These include: 'Folsom Weeping' – weeping cultivar 'Grey's Littleleaf'/'Grey's Weeping' – weeping cultivar 'Nana'/'Compacta' – dwarf female clone usually remaining below 1 m in height. 'Pride of Houston' – female clone similar to type but featuring improvements in form, fruiting, and foliage. 'Schilling's Dwarf'/'Stokes Dwarf' – dwarf male clone that grows no more than 0.6 m tall and 1.2 m wide. 'Will Fleming' – male clone featuring a columnar growth habit. 'Pendula' – "weeping" variety. Has the highest caffeine content. See also Ilex paraguariensis or – a caffeinated holly native to subtropical South America. Ilex guayusa or guayusa – a caffeinated holly native to the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest. Kuding – a Chinese tisane made from I. kudingcha Yaupon Beach, North Carolina - a former town and current neighborhood of Oak Island, North Carolina. References vomitoria Plants described in 1789 Caffeine Herbal and fungal stimulants Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Trees of Chiapas Trees of the Southeastern United States Trees of the South-Central United States Emetics Plants used in bonsai