314 THE HOLLY FAMILY. 



On the road up Roan Mountain there is a tall, shapely tree of beauty so 

 pronounced that it seems to be generally observed, and as our most reticent 

 charioteer deigned to tell us, " nobody knows jist what it be." He certainly 

 didn't know. It is, however, a large-leaved holly, remarkably well grown 

 and beautiful. The fruits, as we saw them, not yet ripe still showed their 

 cheery yellow tint, mostly clouded over with red, while the fully ripe ones 

 were almost as large as cherries, fleshy and brilliantly red. They do not, 

 however, last over the winter. In fact from the spray I carried away many 

 had fallen before we returned from the mountain. 



Besides the large and fine holly trees which grow so well in the south the 

 genus furnishes a wealth also of small shrubs, adding in the low country 

 greatly to the luxury of the vegetation. 



/. opdca, American holly, is perhaps the popular one of the genus : the 

 one most sought for decorations at Christmas. It occurs as a shrub, or 

 again as an imposing, well-shaped tree with an utmost height of fifty feet. Its 

 leaves are characteristic ; oval or obovate in outline, sharp-pointed at the 

 apex and with a few prominent spine-tipped teeth, the sinuses between 

 them being rounded. Above they are smooth and lustrous, and somewhat 

 tinged with yellow underneath. Over the winter the hard, bright red drupes 

 remain on the trees, thus constituting perhaps its greatest charm. Frequently 

 not until the early spring, when the old leaves are falling and their places 

 being taken by fresh ones, do they turn black and fall to the ground. In 

 the mountains of North Carolina there is a yellow as well as the red fruited 

 form of Ilex opaca. 



/. verticillata, black alder or Virginia winterberry, grows as a tall, bushy 

 shrub to often twenty-five feet high and bears oval or oblong-lanceolate 

 leaves, finely serrate and quite pubescent on their undersides along the ribs. 

 As its specific name implies.its flowers grow thickly in the axils of the leaves, 

 appearing like whorls, and the fruit following them is perhaps brighter and 

 more abundantly produced than that of any other of the genus. It lasts for 

 some time after the leaves have turned black and have fallen, frequently 

 being used as Christmas decorations. In Tennessee especially the black 

 alder is common, where it inhabits mostly swampy places. As many of the 

 hollies it is very valuable in cultivation. 



/. glabra, evergreen winterberry, gallberry or inkberry, a handsome shrub 

 of sandy soil, grows well from Louisiana and Florida to Massachusetts, sel- 

 dom, however, becoming over six feet high, while often about sandy stretches 

 near Savannah, Ga., and in Florida it remains quite low and forms an abun- 

 dant, though rather stiff undergrowth. Its lustrous, bright green leaves, 

 pale on their under sides, are considerably spotted with dark coloured dots. 

 The drupes are very black. 



