AOUIFOLIACE/E— HOLLY FAMILY 



HOLLY 



Ilex opiica. 



Theophrastus and other Greek authors named the Holly Ai^ria : 

 tiiat is, wild or of the fields ; and the Romans formed from this the 

 word, A[^rifolii(})i : and called it also Aquifoliiint from aiiituni, 

 sharp, and folium, a leaf. C. ISauhin and Lourt^iru first named it 

 ] U\\- <_>n account of the reseniblance of its leaves to those of the 

 Quofus Ih'x, the true Ilex of Virgil. Linnaeus adopted the name 

 Jlex for the genus, and preserved the name of Aquifoliuni for the 

 most anciently known species. The name Holly is prohiably a cor- 

 ruption of the word holy, as Turner in his "Herbal" calls it 

 Holv. and Holv Tree, proliably fr<mi its being used to commem- 

 orate the holy time of L'hristmas, nut only in houses luit in 

 churches. The German name Ghristdorn, the l*anish rame Christ- 

 orn, and the Swedish name Christtorn, seem to justify this con- 

 jecture. — LorD(j.\. 



Opaca, opac[ue, refers to the color of the leaves of the American 

 species, which is a duller green than that of the i^uropean. 



h\\ evergreen tree, from thirt}- to fifty feet in height, fotmd sparing- 

 ly in New England and New York, where it is always small. Abun- 

 dant on the southern coast and in the Gulf States, reaches its 

 greatest size on the bottom lands of southern Arkansas and eastern 

 Te.xas. The branches are short and slender and the head pyrami- 

 dal. Roots thick and fleshy. Will grow in both dry and swampy 

 sod, but grows slowly. Juices watery, and contain a bitter principle 

 which possesses tonic properties. 



Bark. — Light gray, roughened by excrescences. Branchlets 

 stout, green at first and covered with rusty down, later smooth and 

 brown. 



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