198 AQUIFOLIACE^. 



fonuiii}^', ill fruit, a i- to 8-sceded drupe ; stigmas 4 to 8, or united into 

 one, nearly sessile. 



A small and comparatively unimportant order. In general, plants of 

 this order ai'e possessed of emetic properties. 



ILEX.— Holly. 



Charade)' of the Gcwis. — Calyx -i- to G-toothed. Corolla : petals 4 to G, 

 separate or united at the base. Stamens 4 to (5, alternate with the petals. 

 Ovary 4- to G-celled ; stigmas sessile. Fruit a berr^^-like drupe with 4 t'^ 6 

 seed-like nutlets. Shrubs or trees with simple, mostly alternate leaves. 

 Flowers more or less dia;ciously polygamous. 



Ilex opaca Aitou. — Auwrimn J/nll;/. 



Jh'.iciiplloii. — Farts of tluwer commonly in fours. Fruit red, its luitlets 

 ribbed and veiny. 



A tree 20 to 40 feet higl.. Leaves evergreen, oval, flat, the wavy 

 margins with scattered s^nny teeth. Flowers in loose clusters along the 

 base of the young branches, and in the axils, appearing in June. 



JlahUat. — In woodlands and open places from Maine to Florida and 

 westward ; more common and of large size southward. 



Ilex CassiriG Walter. — Casscna, Yaupon. 



iMicr/plion. — Flowers and fruit like the preceding. A shrub 8 to 12 

 feet high, slender, the short spreading branches often spine like. Leaves, 

 evergreen, 4 to 1 inch h)ng, ov-d or oblong, obtuse, crenate. Flower- 

 clusters very numerous, se> die or jiearly so, appearing in April. 



lluhitat. — In light sandy soil along the coast from North Carolina to 

 Florida. 



Ilex Dahoon Walter. — Dahoon IIoUij. 



iA>c?'//>^/'>n. —Flowers and fruit as in the preceding. A shrub or small 

 tree. Leaves evergreen, 2 to 3 incli.es long, varying from ohovate io ob- 

 long-linear, acute or obtuse, mucronate, entire, or sharply serrate above the 

 middle, on short petioles ; their under siirfacje, as well as the younger 

 braiiclu>s and flower-clusters, pubescent. Sterile peduncles many flowered, 

 the fertile ones shorter, mostly 1-tlowered ; the flowers appear in Api-il 

 and ]M IV. 



Varhiy 3[yrtif')lia {Ilex inijrtifolia Walter) has small leaves, ^ to 1 

 inch long, linear-oblong, entire, or on young branches, sharply 2- to 4- 

 toothed toward the apex. 



Habifaf. — ^Margins of swamps. North Carolina to Florida and westward. 



ParU Used. — The leaves and fruit — not otHcial. 



CoiiNliluentn. — The leaves o' Europctui holly {Ile.>; Aqiiifulinni Linm') 

 have been more carefully examined than those of any Nortli American 

 species. They contain a bitter principle, iliriu, a yellow coloring sub- 

 stance called ile.miUhin, and a peculiar acid, ilicic acid. Some of the 

 American species coutaiu cad'cina. 



