Gentianales.] 



AQUIFOLIACE^. 



597 



Order CCXXX. AQUIFOLIACEiE.— Hollyworts. 



Uicineae, Ad. Brongniart Memoire sur les Rhamnies, 

 Aquifoliaceae, DC. Thdorie, ed. 1. 217. (1813); a 

 clxxiii.; Meisner Gen. p. 252. 



16. (1826) ; Endl. Gen. cxxxviil. (1829).— 

 f Celastrineae, Ih. Prodr. 2. 11 ; Ed. pr. 



Diagnosis. — Gentianal Exogem, tvith no stipules, simple stigmas at the end of a manifest 

 style, axile placentce, definite pendulous seeds, and an imbricated corolla. 



Evergi'een trees or slu-ubs, whose branches are often angular. Leaves alternate or 

 opposite, simple, leathery, without stipules. Flowers small, wliite or greenish, axillary, 

 solitary or clustered, sometimes ^ ? by abortion. 

 Sepals 4 to 6, imbricated in aestivation. Corolla 

 4- to 6-parted, h^-pogj-nous, imbricated in aestivation. 

 Stamens inserted into the corolla, alternate with its 

 segments ; filaments erect ; anthers adnate, 2-celled, 

 opening longitudinally. Disk none. Ovary fleshy, 

 superior, somewhat tnmcate, with from 2 to 6 or 

 more cells ; o\'ules solitary, anatropal, pendulous, 

 and often hanging from a cup-shaped funiculus ; 

 stigma subsessile, lobed. Fruit fleshy, indehiscent, 

 with from 2 to 6 or more stones. Seed suspended, 

 nearly sessile ; albumen large, fleshy ; embryo smaU, 

 2-lobed, Ijing next the hilum, with minute cotyle- 

 dons, and a superior radicle. 



These bushes and trees were formerly included in 

 Rhamnads by most Botanists, but have been well 

 distinguished by Ad. Brongniart, who remarks that 

 the suggestion of Jussieu, in his Genera Plantarum, 

 that Hollyworts ought probably to be placed near 

 Sapotads or Ebenads, will probably be adopted. 

 From Spindletrees, with which the Order is com- 

 bined in some modem works, it differs in the foi'm 

 of the calyx and corolla, in the disposition and in- 

 sertion of the stamens, and especially in the structure 

 of the ovary and fruit. In these respects Hollyworts 

 are found by Brongniart to agree so completely \\\\h 

 Ebenads, that that Order does not, in fact, diff'er 

 essentially from Hollyworts, except in characters of 

 a secondary order, such as the calyx and corolla being 

 less deeply divided, the stamens often double the num- 

 ber of the segments of the corolla, the style some- Fig. CCCCV. 

 times di\dded, the cells of the ovary usually contain- 

 ing 2 collateral ovules, and, finally, in the cells of the fruit not becoming bony, as isi 

 most Hollyworts. Von Rlartius places them near Milkworts. Their time character 

 resides in their monopetalous corolla, axile placenta, pendulous definite seeds, and 

 minute embryo, lying in the base of fleshy albumen. They diff'er from Loganiads in 

 the want of stipules, from Dogbanes in their smiple stigma, and from Ebenads in their 

 long style, the stigmas of which never have a radiating appearance, in their want of the 

 peculiar silky corolla with a twisted imbricated aestivation, in then* stamens bemg con- 

 stantly definite in number, and in the still moi'e minute size of the embryo. 



Found sparmgly in various parts of the world, especially in the West Indies, South 

 America, and the Cape of Good Hope. Several are found in North America ; but 1 , 

 the common Holly, in Europe. 



The bark and berries of Prinos verticillatus possess, in an eminent degree, the pro- 

 perties of vegetable, astringent, and tonic medicines, along with antiseptic powers which 

 are highly spoken of by American practitioners ; the berries are said to be tonic, but 

 Bigelow asserts that they are emetic. A decoction or infusion of the root of Myguida 

 Uragoga is a most powerful diuretic. It is asserted that the leaves of tlie common 

 Holly (Ilex aquifolium), are equal to Peruvian Bark in the cure of mterraittent 



Fig. CCCCV.— Ilex microphylla.— //ooAer. 1. a flower ; 2. the coroUa laid open ; 3. a section of a 

 ripe fruit ; 4. a section of a seed. 



