56 Holly (Ilicinece) 



cluster, the fertile ones usually solitary. Flower-stem, 

 about one half inch long, slender, and minutely 

 hairy. June. 



Leaves, one to one and three quarter inches long, thick, 

 dark, and very shiny above, both surfaces smooth, 

 veins beneath scarcely perceptible ; wedge-shape or 

 oblong, notched toward the apex, with a few (usually 

 five) remote teeth. 



Fruit, the size of a small pea in the axils of the leaves, 

 round, black, shining, often remaining through the 

 winter ; not edible. Stones, four to six, smooth ; a 

 berry-like drupe. 



Found, in sandy and low ground from Cape Ann, Massa- 

 chusetts, southward near the coast. 



A pretty evergreen shrub two to four feet high, well 

 worthy of cultivation because of its neat shape and shin- 

 ing evergreen leaves. 



It is considered of value medicinally (in fevers), but 

 its chief use is for decoration. Quantities of it are sent 

 from the southern counties of New Jersey to the New 

 York florists, who easily keep it in good condition for 

 several months. 



(2) Genus NEMOPANTHES, Raf. 



Probably from the Greek words meaning "thread," "foot," and " flower," in 

 reference to the thread-like stalk of the blossom. 



Fig. 13. Mountain Holly. N. mucronata (L.), Trelease. N. 

 fascicularis, Raf. 



Flowers, usually solitary, small, greenish-white, on long, 

 slender stems. Petals, four or five, narrow, pointed, 

 as long as the stamens, separate. Sepals, in the 

 staminate flowers in the form of minute teeth ; in the 



