BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
109 
GENUS I. 
THE HOLLY. (Ilex, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. TETRANDRIA TETRAGYNIA. 
Generic Character_ Calyx four or five toothed, persistent. Petals j 
four or five, either distinct, or cohering at the base. Stamens four or 
five, alternate with the petals. Ovarium four-celled. Stigmas nearly 
sessile, four or five, either distinct or united in one. Fruit fleshy, 
containing four or five hard stones, each umbilicate at the apex, and 
containing one seed. Seed inverted ; albumen fleshy; embryo in the 
apex. Evergreen trees or shrubs. Leaves coriaceous. Flowers some¬ 
times polygamous. ( Lindley .) 
Description, &c. —The only British plant contained in the genus Ilex is the Common Holly; and an 
examination of its inconspicuous flowers will show the botanical student that they have four stamens and four 
styles ; on which account the genus is placed in the Linnasan class and order Tetrandria Tetragynia, the word tetra 
signifying four. The origin of the word Ilex is not known ; but the word Holly is supposed to be a corruption 
of Holy, which the plant was formerly called from its use in churches. 
1. —THE COMMON HOLLY. (Ilex Aquifolium, Lin .) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 496 ; 2nd ed., t. 235; and out Jiff. 1, Specific Character. —Leaves ovate, acute, spinous, and wavy, 
in PI. 25. Flowers axillary, somewhat cymose. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. —The Holly is one of the commonest British low trees, and one of the very few that are 
evergreen. This last quality renders it particularly useful for affording a shelter for birds during the winter 
months, when the berries afford food as the leaves do shelter. Birds, however, are not fond of Holly berries so 
long as they can get those of the Ivy, and on this account the Holly berries generally remain on the tree the 
greater part of the winter. The leaves of the Holly, as it is well known, when old, become rigid, and, from 
the sharpness of their spines, form an impenetrable barrier near the ground, which prevents the approach of any 
weasel, rats, or other vermin which might attack birds’ nests and destroy the young birds. The upper leaves, 
on the contrary, which are more newly unfolded, are less rigid, and the spines are soft. This peculiarity in the 
Holly has given rise to the following lines by Southey :— 
“ O reader ! hast thou ever stood to see 
The Holly-tree 1 
The eye that contemplates it well, perceives 
Its glossy leaves 
Order’d by an intelligence, so wise 
As might confound the Atheist’s sophistries. 
Below a circling fence its leaves are seen 
Wrinkled and keen ; 
No grazing cattle through their prickly round 
Can reach to wound ; 
But as they grow where nothing is to fear, 
Smooth and unarm’d the pointless leaves appear. 
Thus, though abroad perchance I might appear 
Harsh and austere, 
To those who on my leisure would intrude 
Reserv’d and rude ; 
Gentle at home amid my friends I'd be, 
Like the high leaves upon the Ilolly-tree. 
And should my youth, as youth is apt, I know, 
Some harshness show, 
All vain asperities I day by day 
Would wear away, 
Till the smooth temper of my age should be 
Like the high leaves upon the Holly-tree. 
And as when all the summer trees are seen 
So bright and green, 
The Holly-leaves their fadeless hue display 
Less bright than they ; 
But when the hare and wintry woods we see, 
What then so cheerful as the Holly-tree ? 
So serious should my youth appear among 
The thoughtless throng; 
So would I seem amid the young and gay 
More grave than they ; 
That in my age as cheerful I might he 
As the green winter of the Holly-tree.” 
The bark of the Holly is used for making bird-lime ; and, as is well known, the Holly is employed at 
