THE HOLM OAK 117 



in catkins, springing from the axils of the leaves 

 of the previous year towards the apex of the branch, 

 whilst the female blossoms, varying from four to 

 eight in number, are on a stalk arising from the 

 axils of leaves of the same year, and, of course, 

 still nearer to the apex of the branch. The cat- 

 kins of male flowers are about an inch and a half 

 long, each flower consisting of a cup-shaped calyx 

 and six stamens, furnished with long stalks, or 

 "filaments," to the pollen-bearing anthers. The 

 stalk, or " peduncle," of the female flowers is 

 between one and two inches long, and they are 

 scattered along it with a " sessile," or unstalked, 

 insertion. The acorns which succeed them do not 

 ripen until the autumn of the second year, only 

 one or two coming to maturity on each peduncle. 

 They are generally rather long, oval, and smooth, 

 being enclosed for a third, or even half, of their 

 length in cups made up of numerous narrow 

 downy scales, which closely overlap one another. 

 The acorns are generally bitter, and this is said 

 to be particularly the case with specimens of this 

 Oak grown in cold, damp situations. On the other 

 hand though perhaps never as sweet as those of 

 the Spanish Holly-leaved Oak (Q. gramuntia L.), 

 which are compared to the best chestnuts and are 

 said to have fattened the tunny-fish as they passed 

 into the Mediterranean by the once Oak-clad shores 

 of Andalusia some trees of the Holm Oak produce 

 both sweet and bitter acorns, and there is never 

 any recognisable external difference. 



The Ilex is propagated entirely from seed, no 



