THE HOLLY. 



As the hawthorn is consecrated to vernal festivities, the 

 Holly is sacred to those of winter, and the yew to those 

 attending the burial of the dead. In Europe, from the 

 earliest ages, the Holly has been employed for the decora- 

 tion of churches during Christmas. The poets have made 

 it a symbol of forethought, because its leaves are saved 

 from the browsing of animals by the thorns that surround 

 them; and the berries, concealed by its prickly foliage, 

 are preserved for the use of the winter birds. The Holly 

 is found only in the southern parts of New England. In 

 Connecticut it is common, and in the Middle and Southern 

 States it is a tree of third magnitude. The leaves of the 

 Holly are .slightly sinuate or scalloped, and furnished at 

 each point with short spines. It not only retains its 

 foliage in the winter, but it loses none of that brilliancy 

 of verdure that distinguishes it at other seasons. 



There seems to be no very notable difference between 

 the American and European Holly. Selby says of the 

 ktter : " The size which the Holly frequently attains in 

 a state of nature, as well as when under cultivation, its 

 beauty and importance in forest and woodland scenery, 

 either as a ^secondary tree or merely as an underwood 

 shrub, justify our placing it among the British forest 

 trees of the second rank." He adds : " As an ornamental 

 evergreen, whether in the form of a tree or as an under- 

 growth, the Holly is one of the most beautiful we possess. 

 The deep green glittering foliage contrasts admirably 

 with the rich coral hue of its berries'." 



