Trees of North Carolina 75 



mountains. At Chapel Hill small seedlings are com- 

 mon in the woods near town, but large ones are rare 

 except at a distance of several miles. This scarcity 

 near town is probably the result of over a century 

 of Christmas decorating. Dates of flowering: May 1, 

 1903; April 27, 1909; April 16, 1910; April 29, 

 1913 ; May 7, 1915. Examples: trees in woods near 

 The Caves, and cultivated trees on the campus. 



119. Ilex vomitoria Ait. Yopon. 



This slender, small, evergreen tree is confined to a 

 narrow strip along the coast, and forms a conspicu- 

 ous part of the tangled growth behind the sand dunes. 

 The leaves are small, about %-l inch long, oval, even- 

 ly crenated, smooth; fruit a very small, bright-red 

 berry formed abundantly on the female trees, and very 

 ornamental. This holly does well in cultivation even 

 as far inland as Chapel Hill, but suckers freely and 

 is apt to be straggling in shape. In the region of the 

 Dismal Swamp the dried leaves are said by Curtis 

 to be used as a substitute for tea. and it is known that 

 they contain a considerable amount of caffeine, about 

 .27% of the dry weight (Venable, Jour. Mitchell Soc. 

 2:39. 1884-85). As the name indicates, the leaves 

 are generally supposed to have an emetic effect, and 

 the Indians certainly used a decoction containing 

 them to produce vomiting. It seems, however, that 

 this effect was the result of other herbs that were 

 added and not of the Yopon leaves (Havard, Bull. 

 Tor. B. C. 23 :41. 1896). 



