THE HOLLY FAMILY. 209 



beautiful, having about four prominent angles, and as many cells, and 

 opening, when ripe, into as many valves, so as to disclose the scarlet 

 seeds, which are enveloped in a peculiar covering of a brilliant orange 

 colour. This covering is called the arillus, and is of exceedingly rare 

 occurrence. The finest example of it is in the nutmeg-tree, where it 

 spreads over the shell that encloses the kernel or "nutmeg" of the 

 shops, and when dry, is the aromatic substance known as " mace." 



HABITATS AND LOCALITIES. 

 Common Spindle-tree — [Eudnymus Europceus.) 



Cotterill Clough, abundant formerly, but many of the trees are now 

 cut down. Fl. May. Fruit ripe in September. 

 E. B. vi. 362 ; Baxter, ii. 123. 



Not uncommon in plantations, as atEusholme, Didsbury, Blakeley, and Northen. 

 The berries, and even the leaves, are said to be dangerous ; while the tough white 

 wood, Uke that of the wild cornel and the Guelder-rose, is excellent for such 

 things as skewers. The broad-leaved spindle-tree, or E. latifolius, from the 

 Continent of Europe, occurs in similar situations. 



LVIII.— THE HOLLY FAMILY. Aquifolidcecs or llidnem. 



Evergreen trees and shrubs, the branches often angular ; the leaves 

 simple and leathery ; flowers small, regular, white or greenish, axillary, 

 solitary or clustered, and in some respects like those of the Celastraceee, 

 from which family the present is positively distinguished by the fleshy 

 and indehiscent fruit. The species are natives principally of North 

 and South America, the West Indies, and the Cape of Good Hope, 

 and include a good many plants useful to man, the most celebrated 

 being the shrub which yields mate or Paraguay tea, extensively used 

 as a beverage in Brazil and the adjoining governments. A few kinds 

 of Cassine, from the Cape, and of Prinos, from North America, are 

 inmates of English gardens, but the common European holly is the 

 only species likely to attract attention, either by its frequency or its 

 figure. The glossy, evergreen, and usually prickly leaves of this truly 

 handsome tree, uninjured by the severest winters, along with its 

 smooth gray bark and axillary clusters of nearly sessile, tetramerous 

 white flowers, succeeded by scarlet or yellow berries, give it a striking 



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