HOLLY (Hex opaca, Ait.). 15 to 45 feet. A sturdy tree 

 with narrow pyramidal head of short, slender limbs, and stout, 

 twigs, pubescent at first with fine, red hairs. Bark gray, 

 warty; on branches brown. Wood white, close-grained, 

 tough, light, much used and valued in turnery and inlay work, 

 for engravers' blocks, etc. Leaves simple, alternate, leathery, 

 elliptical or obovate, 2 to 4 inches long, with wavy margins, 

 the veins prolonged into sharp spines; evergreen, persistent 

 for three years, falling in spring. Flowers dioacious, small, 

 white, in axillary, short-stalked cymes; staminate trees 

 with more abundant bloom than pistillate. Fruit berry-like, 

 red, rarely yellow, in late autumn; nutlets 4, ribbed. Dist.: 

 Shady, moist woods, Maine to Florida, west to Missouri and 

 Texas. Largest in Texas. Branches cut commercially for 

 Christmas greens. 



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