AQUIFOLIACEAE 175 



I ORDER LV. AQUIFOLIACEAE. 

 or shrubs; leaves (in our genera) alternate ; stipules none ; flowers axillary, 



small, of 4 to 6 parts, often pdygamodioicous ; calyx minute, free from the ovary ; 

 petals nearly distinct ; stamens as many as the petals, and attached to their base; 

 fruit a berry -like drupe, with 4 or 6 nutlets; albumen fleshy. 



250. IXEX, L. 



[The ancient Latin name of the Holly Oak; applied here.] 

 Dioicously polygamous: Flowers tetramcrous, i. e. the parts in 

 fours. Petals ovate-oblong, obtuse, slightly connected at base. 

 Drupe with 4 or 5 striate or grooved nutlets. Leaves mostly coria- 

 ceous, evergreen, and spiny-toothed. 



1. I. op&ca, Ait. Leaves oval, the margins wavy and sharply 

 spinose-dentate ; flowers scattered, or loosely fasciculate, along the 

 base of the young branches. 

 OPAQUE ILEX. Holly. American Holly. 



Stem 15 to 30 feet high; branches spreading. Leaves 2 to near 3 inches long; 

 petiole* % of an inch in length. Flowers whitish ochroleucous, small ; pedicels 

 with minute bracts at base. Berries small, roundish-ovoid, red when mature, per - 

 sis tent. 

 Hdb. Woods ; Brandywine ; slaty hills : rare. Fl. June. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. This becomes a handsome little tree under cultivation ; but 

 is small, and scarce, in its wild state, here. The European Holly 

 (/. aquifolium, L.) is a more showy species, with the leaves and 

 berries of which, says SirW. J. HOOKER, " our houses and churches 

 are adorned at Christmas, a relic probably of Druidism." Dr. 

 DARWIN thus notices the formidable character of its foliage, in his 

 Botanic Garden: 



" Four of the giant brood with ILEX stand, 

 Each grasps a thousand arrows in his hand ; 

 A thousand steely points on every scale 

 Form the bright terrors of his bristly mail." 



251. PRriVOS, L. 



[The ancient Greek name of the Holly.] 



Dioicously polygamous : Flowers hexamerous, or the parts mostly in 

 sixes. Corolla subrotate, deeply lobed. Drupe with 6 smooth nut- 

 lets. Leaves mostly deciduous, serrate. 



1. P. verticilltos, L. Leaves oval and obovate, acuminate; 

 flowers on short peduncles, the sterile subumbellate, the fertile 

 in subsessile clusters ; berries red. 

 VERTICILLATE PRINOS. Black Alder. Winter-berry. 



Stem 6 to 8 feet high, much branched. Leaves 2 to 3 inches long; petioles about 

 half an inch in length. Flowers greenish white, the sterile umbels pedunculate, 

 the fertile clusters smaller, and nearly sessile; pedicels about % of an inch in 

 length. Berries globose, in small axillary clusters (2 or 3, often 1, in an axil.) 

 appearing somewhat verticillate, bright red when mature, persistent. 

 Hob. Low, swampy grounds, and thickets : frequent. Fl. June. Fr. October. 



Obs. An evergreen species, with black fruit (P. glaber, L.), is 

 common !JQ New Jersey ; but has not been found in Chester County. 

 This genus is nearly allied to Ilex, and Mr. ELLIOTT suggested the 

 propriety of uniting them. ENDLICHER uses nearly the same words, 



