142 Ornamental Shrubs. 



or integra, and can be readily procured from many of our 

 best nurseries. It may not have become very widely dis- 

 tributed, but it is a gem worthy of much more consider- 

 ation than it has apparently yet received. It is a low, 

 much-branched, and somewhat spreading shrub three to 

 four feet high, but in cultivation it not infrequently rises 

 to a height of twenty feet, and so assumes the habit of a 

 tree not unlike the box in general appearance. The leaves 

 are light green, scarcely more than an inch long, ovate 

 with pointed apex and finely toothed. The fruit is black, 

 and produced in great quantities, and contrasts well with 

 the foliage. " This," says our authority, " is the most 

 popular of all the hollies with the Japanese, and a plant 

 cut into fantastic shape is found in nearly every garden. 

 Varieties with variegated leaves are common and much 

 esteemed. Ilex crenata and several of its varieties with 

 variegated foliage were introduced into western gardens 

 many years ago, and are occasionally cultivated, although 

 the value of this plant as an under-shrub appears to be 

 hardly known or appreciated outside of Japan. Of the 

 broad-leaved Japan evergreens, I have the most hope of 

 success with Ilex crenata in this climate ; and if it proves 

 really hardy it will be a most useful addition to our shrub- 

 beries." This estimate was made several years ago, and 

 the trials since indicate that it is as great an acquisition 

 as was at that time anticipated. 



/. opaca, American holly, is a species, though not so 

 beautiful as the English, that is much to be preferred for 

 planting throughout the North. It grows to about the 

 same dimensions as crenata, has oval, flat, deep-green 



