AQUIFOLIACE^ 



connate at base ; Stamens 4-5, alternate with petals ; Ovary superior, 3 or 

 more celled ; Fruit a drupe. 



Distinguished from Celastrineft chiefly by the absence of a disk. 



HOLLY, Ilex AquifoUum. 



Woods, hedges, gardens. May — August. A handsome tree, and valuable as 

 a hedge plant. It is long-lived, but slow of growth. The branches, with then- 

 dark green foliage and red berries, are in great request for Christmas decorations. 



The genus Ilex comprises about 145 species of mostly hardy shrubs and 

 trees. They are propagated by seeds. These are buried 4-6 ins. deep in 

 sandy soil in October, and sown in ordinary soil outdoors in the following 

 spring or autumn, transplanting the seedlings when two years old, and again 

 moving after another two years. For hedges they should be planted 18 

 ins. apart in May or September. Varieties are grafted on the Common Holly 

 in March, or budded in May or August. 



Flowers white, small, \ in. diameter, sometimes unisexual, and fertilised by 

 bees ; Inflorescence a dense axillary umbellate cyme ; peduncles short, many- 

 flowered ; Calyx 4 5-toothed, ovate, persistent ; Corolla rotate ; Petals 4, slightly 

 connate or free, obovate, concave ; Stamens 4, attached by base to corolla ; Ovary 

 superior, 4-celled, 4 small sessile stigmas ; Fruit a drupe, with four 1 -seeded 

 stones ; bright red or yellow, flesh thin ; seeds bony, furrowed, angular. 



Leaves alternate, oval, shortly petiolate, coriaceous, glabrous, shining 

 pale beneath, some entire, others with prickly teeth, wavy, acute or acuminate, 

 2^-3 ins. long, persistent more than one year, falling in summer. 



A deciduous tree or bushy shrub, 10-50 ft. ; Bark smooth, pale grey, 

 often used for making birdlime ; Shoots slightly pubescent ; Buds minute ; 

 Wood finely grained, hard, white ; used for inlaying, and as a substitute 

 for Box and Ebony. 



Native of Britain. English name from A.S. holen, holegn, the holly-tree. 



Leaves often disfigured by larva? of Holly Fly (Phytomyza aquifolia), and 



by spots of the Leaf Sooty Mould {Capnodium Footii). 



39 D 2 



