An evergreen plant common throughout the eastern and mid-western portion of North America, this plant is commonly used during the winter holiday season. When you can identify it, please provide its common and scientific names in a comment below. Feel free to share some personal stories about this plant.
Summertime — with green berries
Bush — or small tree
Leaves
Red berries in winter
ANSWER (subsequently added to this post to facilitate the “search” function for these images): American holly (Ilex opaca)
the plant is a common holly and is used at holiday time for wreaths and other house hold ornaments.
As there are several varieties of holly (and as I do not know which is which) I will say this is American Holly (Ilex opaca). The rather thick/leathery green leaves have needle-sharp points so care is required when working around them. The red berries are a perfect contrasting color to the rich green of the leaves. In my Virginia yard, hollies seem to pop up in several places and grow quite well. This is probably due to the acid/clay soil we have here. Azaleas and rhododendrons also thrive, and, like holly, are not of interest to our large suburban deer population. Unfortunately, the deer eat just about everything else!
You are both correct that this is American holly (Ilex opaca). Well done!