THE HOLLIES 145 



American Holly 



/. Opaca, Ait. 



The American holly also yields its branches for Christ- 

 mas greens. In the remotest village in the North one 

 may now buy at any grocery store a sprig of red-berried 

 holly to usher in the holiday season. The tree is a small 

 one at best, slow-growing, pyramidal, twenty to forty 

 feet in height, with short, horizontal branches and tough, 

 close-grained white wood. It is rare to find so close an 

 imitation of ivory, in color and texture, as holly wood 

 supplies. It is the delight of the wood engraver, who 

 uses it for his blocks. Scroll work and turnery employ it. 

 It is used for tool handles, walking-sticks, and whip-stocks. 

 'Veneer of holly is used in inlay work. 



In southern woods and barren fallow fields where 

 hollies grow, collectors, without discrimination, cut many 

 trees each autumn, strip them of their branches, and leave 

 the trunks to rot upon the ground. The increasing de- 

 mand for Christmas holly seriously threatens the present 

 supply, for no methods are being practised for its renewal. 

 It will not be long before the wood engraver will have to buy 

 his blocks by the pound, as he does the eastern boxwood. 



The range of this holly tree extends from southern Maine 

 to Florida, throughout the Gulf states, and north into 

 Indiana and Missouri. 



The Yaupon 



7. vomitoria. Ait. 



The yaupon is a shrubby tree of spreading habit, with 

 very small, oval, evergreen leaves and red berries. It 



