3i6 PLANT CULTURE 



fectly hardy, but it is much shorter lived than our native species, 

 /. opaca. Except with comparatively small specimens of the 

 English species on which the fruit is in larger clusters and brighter 

 colored, the native one is to be preferred for specimen plants. 

 Several specimens in the parks here are over 40 feet high, and not 

 much inferior as berry bearing plants to theEnghsh one. /. opacais 

 very common in a wild state in the woods here. They are generally 

 found in the shade of other trees, conditions which make them 

 scraggy looking. When grown in the open, in prepared ground, 

 their appearance is quite altered; the branches grow close together, 

 and the outline of the tree is rather conical, not spreading as in 

 /. Aquifolium. There is a variety of /. Aquifolium with yellow fruit 

 which is desirable. There are also many kinds with curiously 

 formed leaves, not so popular here as they are in Europe. Ilex 

 Aquifolium flowers on the growths of the preceding Summer; /. opaca 

 flowers later, and on the current year's wood. 



I. cornuta, from China, is a very satisfactory species, but the 

 berries, of which there is a plentiful supply, do not ripen until after 

 the time when they would be most welcome. It would be an inter- 

 esting experiment were some of our Southern woodsmen to plant 

 the Chinese Holly (/. cornuta) for the sake of its berried branches 

 as a Christmas Holly along with the English (/. Aquifolium) and 

 the native evergreen kinds, /. opaca and /. Cassine. The last named 

 is the prettiest of the three, but both berries and leaves are small; 

 the berries shrivel up too quickly and sometimes fall off before they 

 can be used. /. cornuta fruits more freely than any of the other 

 species. In the vicinity of Washington, by the middle of Decem- 

 ber, the berries are only beginning to turn red. Whether this fault 

 would appear where the flowers expand earlier in the season it cannot 

 be said. A most noticeable feature in connection with the Japanese 

 plant, the mentioning of which may be of use to some one some 

 day, is that it bears a much more abundant crop of berries when 

 male plants of the English species are in the immediate neighbor- 

 hood. The hardiness of this plant is about the same as that of the 

 English kinds, probably a little more tender. It can be grown as 

 far north as Philadelphia. In Washington it stands the most severe 

 Winters without hurt, and grows much stronger than the English 

 species. In transplanting the evergreen Hollies the leaves should 

 be removed. 



Propagation. The English species takes well on stocks of /. 

 opaca. The operation should be done indoors either before growth 



