76 TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



120. Ilex Cassine L. Dahoon Holly.* 



This is a small evergreen tree of swamp margins 

 near the coast. Leaves about 2-4 inches long, thick 

 and leathery, the margin usually smooth, but some- 

 times strongly prickly; berries red, persistent, about 

 ^4 inch thick. This species is quite ornamental and 

 worthy of cultivation. It is easily distinguished 

 from its relatives by its long narrow leaves. 



121. Ilex decidua Walt. Deciduous Holly. 



A large shrub or small tree, usually with several 

 stems, that is common on river banks, flats and hill- 

 sides in the Piedmont, extending into the mountains 

 to an elevation of 1500 feet. In the low country it 

 is abundant in the deep swamps of the large rivers. 

 Leaves small, thin, narrow, not evergreeju. The 

 branches of the female tree are loaded with small 

 .red fruits that hang on most of the winter. Dates 

 of flowering: April 14, 1903; April 19, 1908; April 

 13, 1910; April 27, 1916. Example: the large clump 

 by upper road to Scott's Hole. 



122. Ilex monticola A. Gray. Mountain Holly. t 



A shrub or small tree, rarely 25 feet high, found 

 from Orange County to the high mountains. The 

 leaves .are thin, deciduous, finely toothed, ovate- 



* Further inland on the wet pine barrens there is found a little 

 holly with very small, myrtle-like, evergreen leaves and red ber- 

 ries, that rarely becomes a very small straggling tree, but is essen- 

 tially a shrub and is best not included among the trees. It is Ilex 

 myrtifolia Walt. 



fThe two shrubs, Ilex verticillata (L.) A. Gray, and I. laevigata 

 (Pursh.) A. Gray, rarely reach up into slender trees. The two 

 shrubby Gallberries of the coastal plain are also hollys. 



