310 OUR WOODLAND TREES. 
others again being furnished with sharp spines like 
the Holly; although it is generally noticed that, 
when the leaves vary in the character of their 
outline on the same Tree, it is usually the lowest 
branches which have the most prickly leaves. 
The general resemblance of the Ilex to the Holly, 
in the form of its leaves, has suggested the name, 
sometimes applied to it, of the Holm or Holly Oak, 
but when spined, the spines do not stand out in 
alternating directions, as in Ilex aquifolium. The 
venation in the roundish-oval, slightly-stalked leaf 
of Quercus ilex, is arranged with beautiful regu- 
larity, the veinlets running in oblique and parallel 
lines from the mid-vein to the margin, and 
proceeding to the points of the marginal spines, 
or to the apices of the marginal serratures. 
The venation is most conspicuous on the whitish 
downy under-sides of the leaves. The evergreen 
persistence of its foliage renders the Tex a beau- 
tiful inhabitant of the woodland, and enables it to 
contrast pleasantly with the bare outlines of leaf- 
less branches. 
Tlex wood is useful where hardness, flexibility, 
and durability are required; hence axle-trees, 
