ILEX OPACA, AIT. 139 



acutish, spine-tipped ; base acutish or obtuse ; margin wavy 

 and concave between the large spiny teeth, sometimes with 

 one or two teeth or entire ; midrib prominent beneath ; leaf- 

 stalks short, grooved ; stipules minute, awl-shaped, becoming 

 blackish, persistent. 



Inflorescence. Flowers in June along the base of the season's 

 shoots ; sterile and fertile flowers usually on separate trees, 

 the sterile in loose, few-flowered clusters, the fertile mostly 

 solitary ; peduncles and pedicels slender, bracted midway ; 

 calyx persistent, with 4 pointed, ciliate teeth ; corolla white, 

 monopetalous, with 4 roundish, oblong divisions ; stamens 4, 

 alternating with and shorter than the lobes of the corolla in 

 the fertile flowers, but longer in the sterile ; ovary green, 

 nearly cylindrical, surmounted by the sessile, 4-lobed stigma. 

 Parts of the flower sometimes in fives or sixes. 



Fruit. A dull red, berry-like drupe, with 4 nutlets, 

 ribbed or grooved on the convex back, ripening late, and per- 

 sistent into winter. A yellow-fruited form reported at New 

 Bedford, Mass. (Rhodora, III, 58). 



Horticultural Value. Hardy in southern New England ; 

 though preferring moist, gravelly loam, it does fairly well in 

 dry soil; of slow growth; useful to form low plantation in 

 shade and to enrich the undergrowth of woods ; occasionally 

 sold by collectors but rare in nurseries ; nursery plants must 

 be frequently transplanted to be moved successfully ; only a 

 small percentage of ordinary collected plants live. The seed 

 seldom germinates in less than two years. 



Notes. The cultivated European holly, which the Ameri- 

 can tree closely resembles, may be distinguished by its deeper 

 green, glossier, and more wave-margined leaves and the deeper 

 red of its berries. 



"There are several fine specimens of the Ilex opaca on, 

 the farm of Col. Minot Thayer in Braintree, Mass., which 

 are about a foot in diameter a yard above the ground and 

 25 feet in height. They have maintained their present 

 dimensions for more than fifty years." D. T. Browne's Trees 

 of North America, published in 1846. 



This estate is now owned by Mr. Thomas A. Watson. 



