HOLLY. 157 



old hawthorn is the only playfellow of his boyhood that 

 has not chana^ed. His seniors are in the g^rave ; his 

 contemporaries are scattered ; the hearths at which he 

 found a welcome are in the possession of those who 

 know him not ; the roads are altered ; the houses re- 

 built ; and the common trees have grown out of his 

 knowledge : but be it half a century or more, if man 

 spare the old hawthorn, it is just the same — not a 

 limb, hardly a twig, has altered from the picture that 

 memory traces of his early years. 



The timber of the hawthorn is remarkably hard and 

 durable, and tit for very many purposes ; but a sup- 

 ply of large dimensions cannot be obtained rapidly, as 

 the tree grows so very slowly after attaining some size. 



There are several varieties of the hawthorn, all 

 natives of Europe. Of these the double-flowering has 

 great beauty as a shrub. 



2. Holly. — Of the Holly (Ilex) there are sixteen 

 species, and the varieties produced, distinguished 

 chiefly by the leaves, are very numerous. 



Ilex aqnifuliutn. 



