AQUIFOLIACE.*:. (HOLLY FAMILY.) 269 



parted, imbricated in the bud. Stamens 4-9, alternate with the lobes of 

 the corolla, and inserted on its base : anthers opening lengthwise. Ovary 

 free from the calyx, 4 - 9-celled. Stigma lobed, nearly sessile. Drupe 

 berry-like, composed of 4-9 one-seeded nutlets. Seeds anatropous, sus- 

 pended. Embryo minute, in fleshy albumen. 



1. ILEX, L. HOLLY. 



Flowers perfect or diceciously polygamous, of 4 -9 parts. Drupe containing 

 4-9 nutlets. Leaves evergreen or deciduous. Fertile flowers commonly soli- 

 tary on the young branches, the sterile ones mostly in sessile or peduncled clus- 

 ters or cymes. 



1. AQUIFOLIUM. Parts of the flower 4 : drupe red: nutlets ribbed or veiny on 

 the back: leaves evergreen. 



1. I. opaca, Ait. ( HOLLY.) Smooth; leaves oval, concave, wavy and 

 spiny on the margins ; sterile flowers cymose, on slender peduncles ; calyx-lobes 

 acute. Sandy soil, Florida to Mississippi, and northward. April and May. 

 A small tree. 



2. I. Dahoon, Walt. Young branches, lower surface of the leaves, and 

 clusters more or less pubescent ; leaves varying from obovate to oblong-linear, 

 acute or obtuse, mucronate, entire, or sharply serrate above the middle, on short 

 petioles ; sterile peduncles many-flowered, the fertile ones shorter, ami mostly 

 1 -flowered ; calyx-teeth acute ; nutlets 3-ribbed on the back. (I. laurifolia, Nutt. 

 I. ligustrina, Ell.) Var. MYRTIFOLIA. Leaves small (^'-1'), linear-oblong, 

 entire, or, on the young branches, sharply 2-4-toothed toward the apex. (I. 

 myrtifolia, Walt.) Margins of swamps and pine-barren ponds, South Florida 

 to North Carolina, and westward. April and May. A handsome shrub or 

 small tree. Leaves 2' -3' long. 



3. I. Cassine, L. (YAUPOX ) Leaves small ('-!' long), oval or ob- 

 long, obtuse, crenate; clusters very numerous, nearly sessile; calyx-lobes minute, 

 obtuse. Light sandy soil along the coast, Florida to North Carolina. April. 



Shrub 8- 12 high, slender, the short spreading branches often spine-like. 

 Fruit clustered, abundant. 



2. PIUNOIDES. Parts of the flower 4 - 6 : drupe red or purple : nutlets 4-6, 

 ribbed on the back : shrubs : leaves deciduous. 



4. I. decidua, Walt. Leaves lanceolate or oblong, obtusely serrate, pu- 

 bescent on the veins beneath, tapering into a short petiole ; flowers on short 

 pedicels, in sessile clusters ; calyx-teeth smooth, acute. (I. prinoides, Ait.) 

 Varies with the leaves smooth on both sides, and the flowers on longer pedicels. 



River-swamps, Florida to Mississippi, and northward. April and May. A 

 large shrub. Leaves thin, ]' 2' long. Drupe red. 



5. I. ambigua. Branches slender; leaves oval or oblong, acute or some- 

 what acuminate, finely and sharply serrate, smooth on both sides, or rarely, like 

 the branchlets, softly pubescent ; pedicels of the sterile flowers clustered, longer 

 than the petioles ; those of the fertile ones very short, solitary ; calyx-teeth ob- 



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