MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 161 
just as other deciduous trees; but that the evergreen habit 
was considered a fixed characteristic of this plant is well 
attested by the quaint old English proverb of the confirmed 
prevaricator, of whom it was said: ‘He lees never but when 
the hollen is green.” 
Japan and China have thirty or forty species, some of 
which are being introduced into this country for ornamental 
purposes. The home of the holly, so far as number of 
species is concerned, may be considered to be northern 
Brazil, where about half the known forms occur wild. Europe 
has but a single species, but this deficiency is made up by 
there being over one hundred and fifty different varieties 
of Ilex Aquifolium—at least they are so regarded by horti- 
culturists, but there seems to be some evidence that a part of 
these forms may have originated from the Canary Island 
ene Ilex platyphylla, rather than the true European 
olly. 
That only some trees bear berries is due to the fact that 
in the holly the sexes are distinct; the female, or pistillate 
flowers, which produce the fruit, occurring on one tree, while 
the pollen-bearing flowers are on a separate tree. Care should 
be taken, therefore, in planting hollies desired for the berries, 
to secure only female trees. While it is believed that the 
first printed notice of this difference in sex was communicated 
by Martyn in the “British Royal Society Transactions” 
about the middle of the eighteenth century, it must have 
been known to the country people long before this, since the 
term “he and she hollies” is very old. 
Although the usual color of the berries is red, it is not 
uncommon to have varieties in this country and elsewhere 
eae aed, | pale yellow fruits, and even white berries occur 
occasionally as a sport. 
Economically, aside from its use for decoration, the holly 
is useful for furnishing a wood, which, because of its white 
color and even texture, is in great demand for use in carv- 
ing and scroll work. Formerly, when bird-lime was in 
general use, the inner bark of the holly furnished the prin- 
cipal source of this product, and the herbalists of a century 
or two ago relied upon this plant for the cure of many a 
complaint. Perhaps one of the most novel remedies was its 
application in the cure of chilblains, the method being to 
whip the affected part with freshly gathered holly leaves 
until the blood flowed. Ilex paraguensis, widely distributed 
in South America, a specimen of, which is growing in the 
economic house at the Garden, furnishes the maté or Para- 
guay tea and is in great demand by the natives of the coun- 
