BLACK OR DARK PURPLE 208 



INKBERRY. EVERGREEN WINTER BERRY 

 Ilex glabra Holly Family 



Fruit. The berrylike black drupe is about a 

 quarter of an inch in diameter. It is usually 

 solitary in the leaf axils, with the calyx at the 

 base and the mark of the stigma at the summit. 

 The six seedlets are smooth. 



Leaves. The leathery evergreen leaves are 

 wedge-lanceolate or oblong. The apex is obtuse 

 or acute and sometimes few-toothed. The re- 

 mainder of the margin is entire. The upper 

 surface is dark green and shining and the lower 

 one paler and dotted with black. 



Flowers. The small dioecious or perfect 

 flowers grow in the leaf axils. They are borne 

 on slender stems. June. 



This slender evergreen shrub is from two to 

 six feet high. It has long been cultivated in 

 England, but with us occurs mainly in a wild 

 state. It grows near the coast from Nova Scotia 

 to Louisiana. 



