leaflets, and the teeth usually have weaker spines, although there are 

 many intermediate forms. Differences in leaf surface, however, are 

 most useful in recognizing these plants : The leaflets of Oregon-grape 

 are nearly always shiny above and pale green, but never whitish 

 underneath, whereas those of creeping hollygrape are nearly always 

 dull on top and whitish beneath. Moreover, O. aquifolium. is chiefly 

 confined to the western side of the Cascades and does not occur in 

 the Rockies; hence there is little possibility of confusing the two 

 species except where their ranges merge on the eastern side of the 

 Cascade Mountains. Creeping hollygrape is also the hardier species, 

 which is of importance in the horticultural use of these plants. 



The economic values of creeping hollygrape are similar to those 

 of Oregon-grape and most of the other hollygrapes. It is usually 

 ranked as worthless forage for all classes of livestock, but the leaf- 

 age is sometimes grazed slightly by sheep and game animals when 

 other browse is scarce. In 1919 the loss of cattle on a driveway of 

 the Tonto National Forest in Arizona was attributed by stockmen to 

 creeping hollygrape. The late Dr. C. D. Marsh of the Bureau of 

 Animal Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, how- 

 ever, emphasized that, although this plant contains certain toxic 

 alkaloids, which have medicinal value, it is only slightly poisonous 

 and, because of its low palatability, is not likely to cause losses. 



Longleaf hollygrape (0. nervo'sus), also called scaly Oregon- 

 grape, is one of the most common hollygrapes of the Norm west. It 

 ranges from Vancouver Island and British Columbia to California 

 with local occurrence in extreme western Idaho. This plant is 

 closely associated with the Douglas fir forests of the coast region, 

 being one of the abundant undershrubs, especially on the poorer 

 well-drained soils in the uplands of the Douglas fir type. It is 

 usually known as Oregon-grape and is often confused with O. aqui- 

 foliwm, with which it is frequently associated. This species is a low 

 plant from 6 to about 18 inches in height, with long, stiff, fernlike 

 foliage clustered at the top of a short woody stem. Each leaf has 

 11 to 21 lance-shaj>ed to egg-shaped, bristle-toothed leaflets, which 

 have 3 to 5 main veins radiating from near the base. This species is 

 almost worthless as forage, but is browsed lightly during the winter 

 by game animals. 



Fremont hollygrape (O. fremon'tii] and reel hollygrape (O. haema- 

 tocar'pus) are large shrubs characteristic of brush types on dry slopes 

 and ridges of the pinon-juniper belt in the Southwest. Red holly- 

 grape also occurs at lower elevations in the catclaw belt, particularly 

 in southern New Mexico and southern Arizona. Both species are 

 known in the Southwest as algerita, agarita, agrillo, and yellowwood. 

 These bushy shrubs grow from 3 to 10 or 12 feet high, have small, 

 spiny leaves less than 1^ inches long, and, in general, resemble one 

 another markedly. Fremont hollygrape has dry, inflated dark blue 

 berries, whereas red hollygrape has juicy, blood-red berries. Some- 

 times cattle, horses, and deer crop the leaves and shoots in the winter 

 or at times when other feed is scarce. The Navaho Indians extracted 

 a yellow dye from the bark and roots. 2 



2 Saunders, C. F. USEFUL WILD PLANTS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. Ed. 3, 

 rev., 275 pp., illus. New York, 1934. 



