302 



CORYLACE^E. 



timber tree. It may however, by a judicious application 

 of the knife, be made to assume a handsome form, with a 

 fine straight trunk, and the same effect is usually produced 

 by planting it in company with, and allowing it to be drawn 

 up by, other trees. 



The foliage of the Ilex is of a very deep glossy green, 

 the under surface of the leaves being more or less glaucous 

 in different individuals. The leaves themselves vary greatly 

 in form, and in a small seed bed we have had several dis- 

 tinct varieties ; in some they are large and broad, with 



notched or undulated margins, in others they are prickly, 

 like those of the common holly, and in others, again, they 

 are narrow, with plain and, sometimes, with serrated edges. 

 In short, the modifications of form they assume are so 

 marked and distinct, as to have given rise to several named 

 varieties, and it is even supposed that some of the ever- 

 green Oaks which rank as distinct species are nothing more 

 than varieties of the Quer. Ilex. 



The catkins of the male flowers, which spring from the 

 axils of the leaves of the preceding year, near to the 

 extremity of the branches, are about one inch and a half 



