416 



ILEX. HOLLY. 



[An ancient Latin name.] 



Ilex Aquifolinm. English Holly. An evergreen shrub 

 or low tree, of which innumerable varieties have been 

 raised. The silver and gold edged varieties are very 

 beautiful. This species does not succeed well in this 

 country, on account of our hot suns. 



I. opaca. American Holly. This species is found 

 plentifully in some parts of Massachusetts and southward. 

 Mr. Emerson says of it : " The American Holly is a 

 handsome low tree, with nearly horizontal branches, and 

 thorny evergreen leaves. The berries are scarlet, and re- 

 main on the tree into winter. 



The plants, formerly called Prinos, are now considered 

 by botanists as deciduous species of Ilex. 



I. verticillata. (Prinos verticittatus.) Black Alder. 

 This indigenous shrub, so ornamental in low grounds 

 and swamps in autumn, is worthy of a place in every col- 

 lection of shrubs. " It is a handsome shrub, five or six 

 rarely ten or twelve feet high, with crowded branches 

 and leaves, conspicuous for its bunches of axillary blos- 

 soms and scarlet berries, remaining late in the autumn, or 

 even into the winter. The recent shoots are clothed with 

 an apple-green bark, which, on the large branches, turns 

 to a pearly gray, and, on the older stems, is of a polished 

 and clouded dark color, whence the plant derives its com- 

 mon name." The flowers are white, and not very orna- 

 mental. The berries are of a bright scarlet, covering the 

 twigs, the size of peas, in bunches of two or three, and 

 remain long on the bush. The flowers expand in June ; 

 the berries are ripe in September. The Black Alder will 

 require a peaty, moist soil. 



I. glabra, (Prinos glaber.)ThQ Ink Berry. "An 

 elegant, delicate-looking, evergreen shrub, with slender 

 branches, growing in sheltered places, to the height of. 



