40 TETRANDRIA TETRAGYNIA. 



Hab. Hedges and woods; apparently quite wild on the 

 basaltic rocks above Kyloe. June. 



The holly, when full grown, is one of the most ornamental 

 trees, and late in autumn or in winter, when its scarlet 

 berries contrast well with the lively evergreen foliage, it 

 never fails to attract attention and to please. It makes 

 good hedges. u Is there," says EVELYN, " under heaven 

 a more glorious and refreshing object of the kind, than an 

 impregnable hedge of about 400 feet in length, 9 feet high, 

 and 5 in diameter, which I can now shew in my now ruin- 

 ed gardens at Say's Court, at any time of the year, glit- 

 tering with its armed and varnished leaves ; the taller 

 standards, orderly distances, blushing with their natural 

 coral." The lower leaves are very spinous, while the up- 

 per ones are entire, a fact which has not escaped the no- 

 tice of our poet SOUTHEY : 



" O Reader ! hast thou ever stood to see 



The Holly Tree ? 

 The eye that contemplates it well perceives 



Its glossy leaves, 



Order'd by an Intelligence so wise, 

 As might confound the Atheist's sophistries. 



Below, a circling fence, its leaves are seen 



Wrinkled and keen ; 

 No grazing cattle through their prickly round 



Can reach to wound ; 



But as they grow where nothing is to fear, 

 Smooth and unarm'd the pointless leaves appear. 



I love to view these things with curious eyes, 



And moralize : 

 And in this wisdom of the Holly tree 



Can emblems see, 



Wherewith perchance to make a pleasant rhyme, 

 One which may profit in the after-time. 



Thus, though abroad perchance I might appear 



Harsh and austere, 

 To those who on my leisure would intrude 



Reserved and rude, 



Gentle at home amid my friends I'd be 

 Like the high leaves upon the Holly tree." 



Bird-lime is made from the mucilaginous bark ; and the 

 wood, white, hard, and close-grained, is used in inlaying 

 and veneering, and by turners. Houses and churches are 

 adorned at Christmas with the leaves and berries, a 

 relic probably of Druidism, during the prevalence of which, 



