162 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
try in which it is found. The beverage prepared from the 
leaves of this holly has a considerable stimulating effect, and 
the drink holds the place of tea and coffee in this country. 
The American holly (Ilex opaca), together with some of 
the Japanese species, deserves to be more widely planted in 
St. Louis. It is the one evergreen which seems to be able 
to withstand the smoke of a city, and it is remarkably free 
from insect and other pests. Growing to a height of forty 
to fifty feet, with a trunk two or three feet in diameter, and 
branches so arranged as to produce a natural pyramidal 
effect, nothing could be finer than a holly tree. There is 
no doubt about its living from two to three hundred years, 
and Pliny tells us that Tiburtus built the city of Tibur near 
three holly trees over which he had observed the flight of 
birds that pointed out the spot whereon the gods had fixed 
for its erection, and that these trees were standing in his 
own time and must, therefore, be upwards of twelve hundred 
years old. He also says that there was a holly tree then 
growing rear the Vatican in Rome, on which was fixed a 
brass plate with an inscription engraved in Tuscan letters, 
and that this tree was older than , ate itself, which must 
have been more than eight hundred years. 
* 
MISTLETOE 
As in the case of the holly, so with the mistletoe, there is 
a distinct American and European variety. From a botan- 
ical standpoint, the difference between the two forms of 
mistletoe is much greater, since the European plant belongs 
to one genus (Viscum) and the American to another 
(Phoradendron). There are some eleven species of the - 
erican form, widely scattered through the south and 
southwest, and occasionally growing as far north as New 
Jersey and Ohio. Several species have been reported from 
Missouri, although it is rare. 
While ordinarily considered a parasite, since it always 
grows upon some tree, the mistletoe is not strictly such. Its 
own leaves are capable of manufacturing food, and it is not 
entirely pe mnie re upon its host, as is the case in a true 
parasite. The chief contribution of the host to its unwelcome 
associate seems to be water, with certain contained salts, and 
while the mistletoe does not directly kill the tree upon which 
it is growing, it often dwarfs and distorts the branch to 
which it is attached, and may furnish the opportunity for 
ane sxetgen of fungi ‘ehinn ultimately destroy the tree 
1 m . 
