The Holly Family : The Laurels. 293 



and stony soil, fifteen feet in height. In North Carolina it grows to 

 thirty and forty feet, with a diameter of twelve to fifteen inches. 



1193. It is finely adapted for planting in avenues, and the wood 

 is remarkably white and fine-grained, and is much used for inlaying, 

 turning, and the finer grades of cabinet-work. Bird-lime is pre- 

 pared from the middle-bark of the holly, and its leaves and bark 

 are reputed to possess medicinal properties. It much resembles the 

 European holly (Ilex a qu if oil urn'), 



1194. THE D.uioox (Ilex Dahoon) is a small southern tree, found 

 growing on the borders of pine-barren j><mds and swamps in the coast 

 region of North Carolina and further southward. It sometimes 

 grows to twenty-five feet in height. 



1195. TIIK VAT-PON (Ilex Casxine'), or " emetic holly," is a shrub 

 growing in the coast-region of the Southern States, sometimes reach- 

 ing twenty feet or more in height, but generally less. Its leaves act 

 as a diuretic, and arc used medicinally. The Indians used a cold 

 infusion, that they called " black-drink," at their councils, and it is 

 said to enliven them in the place of opium. According to some ac- 

 counts, however, this drink was a compound one, prepared from 

 various ro^ts. 1 



1196. Other species of the (Ilex (formerly described under the 

 genus Prmos) occur as deciduous shrubs in swamps throughout the 

 Atlantic Slates, but they present no interest for forest-culture, or 

 practical use. 



1197. The "Mate" or Paraguay tea of South America, is made 

 from a holly closely related to the /. CoWm- and it is not improb- 

 able that some advantage may be derived from its cultivation in the 

 Southern States. 



LAUKEL (Genus Kalmla). 



1198. There are abont half a dozen species of this genus, chiefly 

 growing in swamps, or upon rocky hill-side, with thick evergreen 

 leaves and showy red blossoms. Only one of them (K. latifolia) grows 

 to much size, but this is sometimes found 30 feet high. The wood 

 is very hard, close-grained, and often twisted into irregular forms, 

 rendering it available for rustic furniture, for which it is chiefly em- 

 ployed. 



1199. Another species (A", augustlfolia) , which grows further 



1 Procher's Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests, p. 431. 



