198 AQUIFOLIACEiE. 



forming, in fruit, a 4- to 8-seedecl drupe ; stigmas 4 to 8, or united into 

 one, nearly sessile. . 



A small and comparatively unimportant order. In general, plants of 

 this order are possessed of emetic properties. 



ILEX.— Holly. 



Character of the Genus. — Calyx 4- to 6-toothed. Corolla : petals 4 to 6, 

 separate or united at the base. Stamens 4 to 6, alternate with the petals. 

 Ovary 4- to 6-celled ; stigmas sessile. Fruit a berry-like drupe with 4 to 6 

 seed-like nutlets. Shrubs or trees with simple, mostly alternate leaves. 

 Flowers more or less dioeciously polygamous. 



Ilex opaca Aiton. — American Holly. 



Description. — Parts of flower commonly in fours. Fruit red, its nutlets 

 ribbed and veiny. 



A tree 20 to 40 feet high. Leaves evergreen, oval, flat, the wavy 

 margins with scattered spiny teeth. Flowers in loose clusters along the 

 base of the young branches, and in the axils, appearing in June. 



Habitat. — In woodlands and open places from Maine to Florida and 

 westward ; more common and of large size southward. 



Ilex Cassine Walter. — Gassena, Yaupon. 



Description. — Flowers and fruit like the preceding. A shrub 8 to 12 

 feet high, slender, the short spreading branches often spine-like. Leaves, 

 evergreen, £ to 1 inch long, oval or oblong, obtuse, crenate. Flower- 

 clusters very numerous, sessile or nearly so, appearing in April. 



Habitat. — In light sandy soil along the coast from North Carolina to 

 Florida. 



> ilex Dahoon Walter. — Dahoon Holly. 



Description. —Flowers and fruit as in the preceding. A shrub or small 

 tree. Leaves evergreen, 2 to 3 inches long, varying from obovate to ob- 

 long-linear, acute or obtuse, mucronate, entire, or sharply serrate above the 

 middle, on short petioles ; their under surface, as well as the younger 

 branches and flower-clusters, pubescent. Sterile peduncles many flowered, 

 the fertile ones shorter, mostly 1-flowered ; the flowers appear in April 

 and May. 



Variety Myrtifolia (Ilex myrtifolia Walter) has small leaves, ^ to 1 

 inch long, linear-oblong, entire, or on young branches, sharply 2- to 4- 

 toothed toward the apex. 



Habitat. — Margins of swamps, North Carolina to Florida and westward. 



Parts Used. — The leaves and fruit — not official. 



Constituents. — The leaves of European holly (Ilex Aquifolium Linne) 

 have been more carefully examined than those of any North American 

 species. They contain a bitter principle, ilicin, a yellow coloring sub- 

 stance called ilexanthin, and a peculiar acid, ilicic acid. Some of the 

 American species contain- mffeiiw. 



