416 beeck's :n^ew book of flowers. 



ILEX— Holly. 



[An ancient Latin name.] 



Ilex Aquifolium.— 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 S2:)ecies 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 verticillatus.) — 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, Avhich, 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 glaher.) — The Ink Berry. — "An 

 elegant, delicate-looking, evergreen shrub, with slender 

 branches, growing in sheltered places, to the height of 



