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HOLLY.— ILEX. 



Natural order, Dumosce. Rhamni, Juss. A 

 genus of the Tetrandria Tetragynia class. 



" Sing heigh ho ! the holly, the holly." 



Shakspeare. 



" No tree in all the grove but has its charms, 

 Though each its hue peculiar ; paler some, 

 Some glossy-leaved, and shining in the sun." 



The Greeks named this tree 'A^p/a (agria) ; 

 which is supposed to be derived from aypios, 

 immitis, from its being armed with prickles. 



The admirers of Virgil's Pastorals will be 

 reminded of the poetical contentions of Co- 

 rydon and Thyrsis, when the ilex meets their 

 view. 



" Beneath a holm, repair'd two jolly swains : 

 Their sheep and goats together grazed the plains." 



Dryden. 



French naturalists have made the holly 

 the emblem of foresight, because, they say, 

 that the foresight of nature is admirably ex- 

 emplified in this beautiful tree, which, when 

 growing in its natural forest, protects itself by 



