AQUIFOLIACE^. (HOLLY FAMILY.) 269 



parted, imbricated in the bud. Stamens 4-9, alternate with the lobes of 

 the corolla, and inserted on its base: anthers opening lengthwise. Ovary 

 free from the calyx, 4 - 9-celled. Stigma lobed, nearly sessile. Drupe 

 berry-like, composed of 4-9 one-seeded nutlets. Seeds anatropous, sus- 

 pended. Embryo minute, in fleshy albumen. 



1. ILEX, L. Holly. 



Flowers perfect or diceciously polygamous, of 4-9 parts. Drupe containing 

 4-9 nutlets. — Leaves evergreen or deciduous. Fertile flowers commonly soli- 

 tary on the young branches, the sterile ones mostly in sessile or peduncled clus- 

 ters or cymes. 



§ 1. Aquifolium. — Parts of thejiower 4 : drupe red: nutlets ribbed or i-einij on 

 the back : leaves evergreen. 



1. I. opaca, Ait. (Holly.) Smooth; leaves oval, concave, wavy and 

 spiny on the margins ; sterile flowers cymose, on slender pedujicles ; calyx-lobes 

 acute. — Sandy soil, Florida to Mississippi, and northward. April and May. — 

 A small tree. 



2. I. Dahoon, Walt. Young branches, lower surface of the leaves, and 

 clusters more or less pubescent ; leaves varying from obovate to oblong-linear, 

 acute or obtuse, mucronate, entire, or sharply serrate above the middle, on short 

 petioles ; sterile peduncles many-flowered, the fertile ones shorter, and mostly 

 1-flowered ; calyx-teeth acute; nutlets 3-ribbed on the back. (I. laurifolia, Nutl. 

 I. ligustrina. Ell.) — Var. myrtifolia. Leaves small (.j'-l'), linear-oblong, 

 entire, or, on the young branches, sharply 2-4-toothed toward the apex. (I. 

 myrtifolia, Walt.) — Margins of swamps and pine-barren ponds. South Florida 

 to North Carolina, and westward. April and May. — A handsome shrub or 

 small tree. Leaves 2' -3' long. 



3. I. Cassine, L. (Yauton ) — Leaves small (i'-l' long), oval or ob- 

 long, obtuse, crenate ; dusters very numerous, nearly sessile ; calyx-lobes minute, 

 obtuse. — Light sandy soil along the coast, Florida to North Carolina. April. 



— Shrub 8° -12° high, slender, the short spreading branches often spine-like. 

 Fruit clustered, abundant. 



§ 2. Pkinoides. — Parts of the flower 4 - 6 : drupe red or purple : nutlets 4-6, 

 ribbed on the back : shrubs: leaves deciduous. 



4. I. decidua, Walt. Leaves lanceolate or oblong, obtusely serrate, pu- 

 bescent on the veins beneath, tapering into a short petiole ; flowers on short 

 pedicels, in sessile clusters; calyx-teeth smooth, acute. (I. prinoides. Ait.) — 

 Varies with the leaves smooth on both sides, and the flowers on longer pedicels. 



— River-swamps, Florida to Mississippi, and northward. April and May. — A 

 large shrub. Leaves thin, l'-2' long. Drupe red. 



5. I. ambigua. Branches slender ; leaves oval or oblong, acute or some- 

 what acuminate, finely and sharply serrate, smooth on both sides, or rarely, like 

 the branchlets, softly pubescent ; pedicels of the sterile flowers clustered, longer 

 than the petioles ; those of the fertile ones very short, solitary ; calyx-teeth ob- 



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