The HoUiefi 



some of which are coming into cultivation in America. Europe 

 has but one species. America has fourteen, four of which assume 

 tree form; the rest are shrubby "winterberries." 



There are 1 53 distinct varieties of the European Ilex Aqui- 

 jolium in cultivation. No more popular ornamental is grown. 

 The Englishman looks out upon his bloomless garden in winter 

 time, 



" And sees the clustered berries bright 

 Among the holly's gay green leaves." 



It is more, I think, than a poet's fancy that holly leaves are 

 dull in summer in contrast with other foliage, only to gleam 

 brilliant as polished leather when other broad-leaved trees are 

 bare. The fell-fare, a little thrush, eats these tempting red 

 berries in winter, to the disgust of narrow-minded gardeners. 



Ilex is the name by which the holm oak of southern Europe 

 has always been popularly known. Its leaf resembles that of the 

 holly with which it grows in the wild. Linnaeus dropped the old 

 name, Aqiiijolium (sharp leaf), which the holly had been called. 

 The European species became Ilex Aquijolium and the oak Quercus 

 Ilex. 



Its sharp leaf, far more spiny and deeply cleft than that of 

 our species, and the lustrous sheen of leaf and scarlet berry 

 make the European holly handsomer than the American. Its 

 specific name, opaca, meaning dull, reminds us of the inferiority 

 of the latter. 



Holly and mistletoe are inseparably linked in traditions of 

 the English Christmas. The Druid feasts gave these two plants 

 prominent places in pagan rites, and they have come down to 

 modern times with few changes. Old chroniclers and ballad 

 makers kept the ancient usages fresh in mind, and to-day the 

 English gentleman re-enacts the customs of his forefathers right 

 loyally, as he celebrated Christmas with all his tenantry in the 

 great hall. 



"The mistletoe hung in the castle hall 

 And the holly branch hung on the old oak wall^ 

 The baron's retainers were blythe and gay 

 Keeping their Christmas holiday." 



Away back of the Christian Era, not the Druids only, but 

 the pagan tribes of Continental Europe, especially those under 

 the rule of Rome, sent holly branches to each other as token of 



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