2 The Shrubs of North Carolina 



when engrafted on other species of Maple.' Its leaves and fruit 

 have the common characters of a Maple, the latter being rather 

 small. 



Dahoon Holly. (Ilex Dahoon, Walt.) — A shrub or small 

 tree from 6 to 25 feet high, growing on the borders of the Pine- 

 barren ponds and swamps of our Low Country, from Virginia to 

 Florida. The leaves are 1 to 2 inches long, 14 to 1/2 inch wide, 

 entire, or with a few sharp teeth near the upper end, evergreen. 

 The berries are red, as in the Holly and Yopon, and the plant is 

 well worthy of cultivation. 



Yopon. (I. Cassine, Linn.) — An elegant shrub, 10 to 15 feet 

 high, but sometimes rising into a small tree of 20 to 25 feet. Its 

 native place is near salt water, and it is found from Virginia 

 southward, but never far in the interior. Its dark evergreen 

 leaves and bright red berries make it very ornamental in yards 

 and shrubberies. The leaves are small, 1/2 "to 1 inch long, very 

 smooth, and evenly scalloped on the edges with small rounded 

 teeth. In some sections of the Lower District, especially in the 

 region of the Dismal Swamp, these are annually dried and used 

 for tea, which is, however, oppressively sudorific, — at least to one 

 not accustomed to it. The Mate, or Paraguay Tea, of South 

 America, is of the same genus as this, (the I. Paraguay ensis,) 

 but a very different species. Our Yopon is the article from which 

 the famous Black Drink of the Southern Indians was made. "At 

 a certain time of the year they come down in droves from a dis- 

 tance of some hundred miles to the coast for the leaves of this 

 tree. They make a fire on the ground, and putting a great kettle 

 of water on it, they throw in a large quantity of these leaves, 

 and setting themselves around the fire, from a bowl that holds 

 about a pint they begin drinking large draughts, which in a short 

 time occasions them to vomit freely and easily. Thus they con- 

 tinue drinking and vomiting for the space of two or three days, 

 until they have sufficiently cleansed themselves; and then every 

 one taking a bundle of the tree, they all retire to their habi- 

 tations." 



(I. decidua, Walt.) — This and the next three have deciduous 

 leaves, and have not been honored in this State, as far as I know, 

 with popular names. This is common along shaded ravines and 

 branches throughout the Middle District, and is from 6 to 15 

 feet high. The leaves are 1 to 2 inches long, with rounded teeth 

 on the edges, narrow and tapering down in to a short stem, some- 

 what hairy on the veins of the underside, otherwise smooth. 

 Berries red, in clusters, each containing 4 to 6 bony seeds, that 

 are ribbed on the back. 



(I. ambigua, Chapm.) — A shrub or small tree confined to our 

 mountain region in this State, though found elsewhere to the 



