646 ILEX 



box-like, oval leaves, J to i% ins. long, J to f in. wide, minutely round-toothed. 

 Fruit black, round, j in. diameter, on stalks j in. or less long. By some this 

 is regarded as Thunberg's type. 



Var. MARIESII (Ilex Mariesii, Veitcft). Whilst var. major represents one 

 extreme of this variable species, var. Mariesii represents the other. It is 

 a very stiff-habited, extraordinarily dwarf holly, with stunted twigs hidden 

 by orbicular or broadly ovate leaves about j in. wide, sometimes entire, 

 sometimes with a pair of shallow teeth near the apex. Fruits black, on 

 stalks ^g- in. long. Interesting for the rock garden as a pigmy. Introduced 

 for Messrs Veitch by Maries about 1879. It only grows part of an inch 

 a year. Perhaps a distinct species. 



Var. VARIEGATA. A form with leaves of the same shape and size as 

 the type, but spotted or blotched with yellow, sometimes wholly of that colour. 



Ilex crenata in all its forms is a popular shrub in Japan. It is used 

 largely for clipping into fantastic shapes, also as a dwarf hedge. I have 

 been told by a traveller that so dense and hard are some of these flat-topped 

 hedges there, that a man can walk along the top of them. It can be increased 

 by cuttings, and is quite hardy 



I. DECIDUA, Walter. 



(I. prinoides, Aiton^) 



A deciduous shrub, usually 5 to 10 ft. high, occasionally a small tree up 

 to 30 ft. in the southern parts of its habitat ; shoots smooth and covered with 

 a grey bark. Leaves oval or narrowly obovate, tapered at both ends, often 

 blunt at the apex, shallowly round-toothed ; I to 2^ ins. long, \ to f in. wide ; 

 of firm texture, smooth except along the midrib ; stalk downy, \ to \ in. long. 

 The leaves are often crowded on short lateral spurs. Male flowers on slender 

 stalks \ in. long ; females on shorter ones. Fruits round, orange to scarlet, 

 |- in. diameter. 



Native of the south-eastern United States ; introduced in 1760. It 

 occasionally bears a good crop of its berries, which are very persistent on 

 the branches. The branches do not break into leaf until May, and the 

 fruits formed the previous autumn are then still remaining. From the red- 

 fruited I. verticillata and I. laevigata, this differs in having the nutlets many- 

 ribbed ; in the others they are smooth. Its habit of producing short spurs 

 crowded with leaves and flowers also gives it a distinct aspect. 



I. DIPYRENA, Wallich. HIMALAYAN HOLLY. 



An evergreen tree, ultimately 40 ft. or more high, the angular young shoots 

 and winter buds minutely downy. Leaves oblong or narrowly oval, tapered 

 at the base, slenderly pointed and spine-tipped, 2 to 5 ins. long, f to i^ 

 ins. wide ; dull, opaque green, leathery ; stalk \ in. or less long. Like the 

 common holly it is very spiny on the margins when young, but as the plant 

 attains maturity the spines become fewer and finer, and ultimately the leaves 

 of the upper branches become entire. Flowers very numerous, in dense 

 round clusters in the leaf-axils. Fruits oval, red, large for a holly, commonly 

 two-seeded. 



Native of the Himalaya. Whilst inferior to the common holly as an 

 ornamental evergreen, both in the lack of lustre on the foliage, and as rarely 

 bearing fruit, this species is interesting and worth growing for its distinctness. 

 There is an example at Kew over 20 ft. high and 17 ft. through, which makes 

 a handsome specimen. I have never known this tree injured ; even the 

 great frosts of February 1895 did not affect it. But in a young state the 

 species is susceptible to intense cold, and the Kew tree was killed back to 

 ground-level in 1867. 



