144 TREES 



European Holly 



Ilex aquifolium, Linn. 



The holly of Europe is perhaps the most popular orna- 

 mental tree in the world, cultivated in Europe through 

 centuries, and now coming to be a favorite garden plant 

 wherever hardy in the United States. Some indication 

 of its popularity abroad is found in the fact that one 

 hundred and fifty-three distinct horticultural varieties 

 are in cultivation. The Englishman makes hedges of it, 

 and depends upon it to give life and color to his lawn and 

 flower borders in the winter. The fellfare or fieldfare, a 

 little thrush, feeds upon the tempting red berries in winter; 

 but even when these dashes of color are all gone, the 

 brilliance of the spiny-margined leaves enlivens any 

 landscape. 



Americans know the European holly chiefly through 

 importations of the cut branches offered in the markets for 

 Christmas decoration. The leaf is small, brilliantly^ 

 polished, and very deeply indented between long, spiny 

 tips, giving it a far more decorative quality than the 

 native evergreen holly of the South. 



Many varieties of the European holly are found in 

 American gardens, particularly near eastern cities. North 

 of Washington they must be tied up in straw for the winter, 

 and in the latitude of Boston it is a struggle to keep 

 them alive. From southern California to Vancouver, 

 no such precautions are necessary, and the little trees 

 deserve a much wider popularity than they yet enjoy. 

 Grown commercially, they are the finest of Christmas 

 greens. 



