THE HOLLIES. 



123 



in size of leaf, as well as in growth, one may find almost every form that 

 cultivated plants assume among the garden hollies. Thirty years ago the 

 late Thomas Moore monographed the varieties of the common holly in 

 the " Gardeners' Chronicle," with the help of the leading cultivators of 

 holly in the United Kingdom. Even at that time he was able to name 

 and classify 150 varieties. 



Although, like many monographers, Moore probably over-divided his 

 material and relied too much on unimportant and transient characters, 

 his was a genuine and valuable attempt to classify the garden hollies. 

 The fine collection of hollies at Kew is named in almost complete accord- 

 ance with Moore, and his nomenclature has been followed in the " Kew 

 Hand-List." In the following notes a representative thirty-nine varieties 

 are briefly described : 



The six best varieties are camellia [folia, compacta aurea, 'Golden 

 Queen,' k Handsworth Silver,' platyphylla, Shepherdii. The six next best 

 are argentea marginata, handsworthensis, ' Handsworth's New Silver,' 

 Hcndersonii, maderensis, Wilsonii. 



Ilex Aquifolium. 



Var. altaclarensis. — This is a large-leaved variety, dull green, with 

 regularly placed spines on the margin. The bark is dull purple. The 

 variety is represented by a gocd specimen at Kew, measuring 25 feet in 

 height and 13 feet through. 



Var. angustifolia. — A green variety, the small, narrow leaves marked 

 with the large, weak spines set on portions of the margin. It is of slender 

 growth, and can be distinguished from other varieties of a similar type by 

 a large proportion of its leaves having the terminal one-third without 

 spines. 



Vars. argentea and argentea regina are the Silver Hollies described 

 previously. 



Var. atrovirens (nigrescens). — One of the big-leaved Hollies, the 

 foliage being dark, shining green, and stout in texture. 



Vars. aurea, aurea marginata, aurea medio-picta, aurea pendula, and 

 aurea regina,, all of the Golden-leaved group, have been already described. 



Var. camellia} olia. — This is a favourite holly of mine, and is some- 

 times catalogued as laurifolia longifolw. It is a beautiful variety, the large 

 leaves glistening in the sun, and they are conspicuous in having very few 

 spines, frequently none at all. Its name is suggestive of the leaf character. 

 The berries are very fine. 



Vars. ciliata and ciliata major have long, slender spines standing well 

 away from the body of the leaf. The variety 'major is more vigorous than 

 the former, and has larger leaves, but ciliata is a neat-habited and pretty 

 variety. 



Vars. crispa and crispa picta. — These have a curious spiral twist to the 

 leaves, which are thick in texture, and dull green in crispa, but blotched 

 with yellow in crispa picta. These two hollies are sometimes called 

 tortuosa and tortuosa aureo-picta respectively. 



Var. donningtoncnsis. — A graceful holly, which is distinguished by 

 leaves of quite a purplish shade of colour. They vary in form, but this 

 trait adds to the interest of the shrub. 



