HOLLY. 3 



naturalized from time immemorial. There are some fine specimens 

 of the tree in Needwood Forest, Staffordshire, and the woods of 

 Dumbartonshire. It is a native of Europe, from Greece, north- 

 ward as far as Scotland and Denmark. It flowers in May and June. 

 "There are numerous varieties of this tree, chiefly depending on 

 the variegation, margin and size of the leaves, and colour of the 

 berries, which are highly ornamental in clumps, borders, and other 

 parts of pleasure-grounds, affording much variety when judiciously 

 intermixed. They are usually increased by budding or grafting on 

 the common kind, which is easily raised from seed ; for which pur- 

 pose the berries should be gathered when they are ripe, mixed with 

 sand, and turned over frequently till the October following, when 

 they should be sown in beds covered over with mould three quarters 

 of an inch thick; or the berries may remain on the trees till 

 spring, when they may be sown. They do not vegetate till the 

 second year."* 



The genus includes about forty- seven species, the most remark- 

 able of which are the /. Vomitoria, and L. Cassive, handsome 

 shrubs, the leaves of which are used by the Indians for the pre- 

 paration of their black-drink, which has powerful emetic properties, 

 and is used by them not only as a medicine, but as a drink of 

 etiquette on public occasions : also the /. Paraguensis, Mate or 

 Paraguay Tea-tree. 



The etymology of the term Ilex is rather uncertain. Theis de- 

 rives it from ac, a point, in Celtic. The specific name Aquifolium 

 is derived from acus, a point, and folium, a leaf, in allusion to the 

 spiny leaves. Holly has received the provincial names of Holme 

 and Hulce?'. 



Qualities and General Uses. — Holly is much prized for 

 making hedges, as it forms a most impenetrable and durable 

 fence ; but on account of the slowness of its growth, it is seldom 

 employed. Evelyn had a holly-hedge at Says Court, four hundred 

 feet long, nine feet high, and five feet broad, which he planted at 

 the suggestion of Peter the Great, who resided at his house, when 

 he worked in the dock-yard at Deptford. He exclaims in his 

 Sylva, " Is there under Heaven a more glorious and refreshing 

 object than such an impenetrable hedge, glittering with its armed 

 and varnished leaves, blushing with natural coral." The branches 



* Don's Miller's Dictionary, vol. ii. p. 20. 



b 2 



