108 iLiciNE^. (holly family.) 



sterile flowers to be clustered in the axils. (The ancient Latin name of the 

 Hollj-Oak, rather than of the Holly.) 



§ 1. AQUIFOLIUM. Parts of the flower common! ij in fours, sometimes in 

 Jives or sixes ; drupe red, its nutlets ribbed, veiny, or l-jrooved on the back; 

 leaves {mostly smooth) coriaceous and evergreen. 



* Leaves armed ivith spiny teeth; trees. 



1. I. Op^ca, Ait. (American Holly.) Leaves oval, flat, the wavy 

 margins with scattered spiny teeth ; flowers in loose clusters along the base 

 of the young branches and in the axils ; calyx-teeth acute. — Moist woodlands, 

 Maine to N. J., near the coast, west to S. Mo., and southward. Jujie. — Tree 

 20-40° high ; the deep green foliage less glossy than in the European Holly 

 (I. Aquifolium, L.), the berries not so bright red, and nutlets not so veiny. 



* * Leai^es serrate or entire, not spiny ; shrubs. 



2. I, Cassine, L. (Cassexa. Yaupon.) Leaves lance-ovate or elliptical, 

 eremite (1 - lj|' long) ; flower-clusters nearly sessile, smooth ; calyx-teeth obtuse. 

 — Virginia and southward along the coast. May. — Leaves used for tea by 

 the people along the coast, as they were to make the celebrated black drink 

 of the North Carolina Indians. 



3. I, Dahoon, Walt. (Dahoon Holly.) Leaves oblanceolate or oblong, 

 entire, or sharply serrate toward the apex, with revolute margins (2-3' long), 

 the midrib and peduncles pubesceiit ; calyx-teeth acute. — Swamps, coast of Va. 

 and southward. May, June. 



Var. myrtifolia, Chapm. Leaves smaller {V long or less) and narrower. 

 (I. myrtifolia, Walt.) — Same habitat. Ma^^ 



§ 2. PRINOtDES. Parts of the {polygamous or dioecious) flowers in fours or 

 flves {rarely in sixes) ; drupe red or purple, the nutlets striate-many-ribbed 

 on the back ; leaves deciduous ; shrubs. 



4. I. decidua, Walt. Leaves wedge-oblong or lance-obovate, obtusely ser- 

 rate, downy on the midrib beneath, shining above, becoming thickish ; peduncles 

 of the sterile flowers longer than the petioles, of the fertile short ; calyx-teeth 

 smooth, acute. — Wet grounds, Va. to Mo., Kan., and southward. May. 



5. I. monticola, Gray. Leaves ovate or lance-oblong, ample {3-5' long), 

 taper-pointed, thin-membranaceous, smooth, sharply serrate; fertile flowers 

 very short-peduncled ; calyx ciliate. — Damp woods, Taconic and Catskill 

 Mountains, and Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., through Penn. (east to Northampton 

 Co.), and southward along the Alleghanies. May. 



6. I. mollis, Gray. Leaves soft downy beneath, oval, ovate, or oblong, 

 taper-pointed at both ends, especially at the apex, thin-membranaceous, sharply 

 serrulate ; sterile flowers very numerous in umbel-like clusters, the pedicels 

 shorter than the petiole and (with the calyx) soft-downy, the fertile peduncles 

 very short. — Burgoon's Gap, Alleghanies of Penn. {J . R. Lowrie, Porter), and 

 along the mountains in the Southern States. — Resembles the last. 



§ 3. PRIXOS. Parts of the sterile flowers commonly in fours, flves, or sixes, 

 those of the fertile flowers commonly in sixes {rarely in flves, sevens, or eights) ; 

 nutlets smooth and even ; shrubs. 



