THE AMERICAN HOLLY 



GREAT numbers of people are familiar with the leaves and fruit of the American 

 Holly who have never seen the growing tree. This of course is due to the very 

 general use of the branches for holiday decorations, and to the fact that the 

 tree is a local species in many parts of the United States, occurring especially in peat- 

 bogs and along rich river-bottoms, although in the more northern parts of its range it is 

 often found in dryer soil. It is indigenous from Massachusetts to Florida, and in the 

 Mississippi Valley from Indiana to the Gulf of Mexico. It occurs as far west as Eastern 

 Texas, where it attains its largest size. It is occasionally planted as an ornamental tree 

 throughout its range, being hardy as far north as Massachusetts. It is difficult to trans- 

 plant successfully and is of slow growth but nevertheless it is so beautiful a tree that it 

 is worth while to utilize it in landscape planting for the adornment of the undergrowth of 

 groves, either along the margins or beneath the larger trees. 



The general characteristics of the American Holly may be seen by a glance at the 

 plate. The small greenish white flowers appear in May or June, the pollen-bearing and the 

 seed-bearing being in different groups generally upon separate trees. As is usually the 

 case, the former grow in thicker clusters to which insects are attracted, these visitors 

 carrying the pollen to the seed-bearing flowers. In due time the latter develop into the 

 well-known beautiful red fruits scattered singly on short stalks along the twigs. The 

 evergreen leaves, with their spinous margins and smooth, shining surfaces, are of an essen- 

 tially decorative form and seem especially designed for use in Christmas greenery. This 

 custom is of great antiquity, dating at least back to early Roman times, and very likely 

 to an even earlier practice "of hanging the interior of dwellings with evergreens as a 

 refuge for sylvan spirits from the inclemency of the weather." 



In Europe the closely related European Holly, which is very similar to our species, 

 is the plant that is most largely employed for this purpose. 



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