342 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



scales. The calyx has four triangular, pointed, ciliate teeth. 

 The corolla, four oblong, roundish, white segments, with green- 

 ish veins. The stamens are four, from the base of the corolla, 

 between its segments, and two thirds as long. The ovary is 

 large, egg-shaped, green, crowded with a sessile stigma, with 

 four rounded angles. The berries are scarlet, contain four stony 

 seeds or nuts, and remain on the tree into the winter. It flow- 

 ers in June. 



This tree is found plentifully at Quincy, at Cohasset, and 

 especially at New Bedford, and on Naushon Island. It has 

 considerable beauty, and is particularly valuable for retaining 

 its bright green leaves through the year, and for the beauty of 

 its scarlet berries. The leaves are seldom touched by an insect. 

 On these accounts, it deserves cultivation as an ornamental tree. 

 It has great resemblance to the European holly, which makes 

 the most durable hedge of any plant whatever, and one which 

 is kept in repair, when once established, at the least expense. 

 The objection to it is the slowness of its growth. Our tree is 

 commonly found on a rather dry, sandy, or rocky soil, but will 

 grow on almost any. The European is found to do best on a 

 rich, sandy loam, in an open forest of oak. It is propagated by 

 seeds or by plants taken from the woods. The seeds do not 

 germinate for more than a year after sowing; they are, there- 

 fore, kept in moist earth for a year after gathering, after which 

 they are sown at the depth of a quarter of an inch, in fine 

 soil. The surface should be protected from heat and drought, 

 by a covering of half-rotten leaves or litter. When transplanted, 

 they should still be protected, for a while, from the heat of the 

 sun. The best time for transplanting is early in spring, before 

 the plant has begun to shoot. 



The wood of the holly is compact and of a beautifully close 

 grain and satiny texture. The sap-wood is white, the heart- 

 wood brown. Both are very hard, when seasoned, and sus- 

 ceptible of a brilliant polish, in their natural state, and when 

 colored ; and are used in as great quantities as can be procured, 

 by turners, by screw-makers, by whip-makers for the handles 

 of whips, by engravers, and by cabinet-makers for inlaid work. 

 For these various uses, the wood is brought into Boston, in 



