EVERGREEN TREES AND SHRUBS. 
583 
hedge-hog holly, I. a. ferox , with leaves crowded with spines and 
rolled at the edges; the white-edge-leaved, I. a. alba marginatum , 
and the yellow-edge-leaved, I. a. aurea-7narginatum. 
The American Holly, Ilex opaca , is a beautiful conical ever¬ 
green tree, similar in appearance to the European sort, and some¬ 
what hardier, but not fully at home north of Washington, though 
grown with some success all over the country. In South Carolina 
it becomes a tree from sixty to eighty feet in height: in the middle 
States half that size, and at the north still less. The leaves are 
thick, tough, and very glossy, scolloped and armed with spines on 
their edges. Most specimens we have seen growing in open ground 
at the north are not sufficiently covered with foliage to conceal the 
hard stiff ramification of the branches, which present an appearance 
similar to the pin oak. But if these were cut back to thicken the 
growth, the tree could doubtless be made to develop much of the 
beauty that has made the European holly a favorite for hedges ; 
the leaves of the American species having the same kind of 
glossiness. At the north it should be treated as a half-hardy 
shrub, and when clipped to promote a dense growth, the pruning 
should be done with a knife between the leaves, as the latter when 
cut have rusty edges that mar the cleanly character of the foliage. 
A deep, rich, cool soil, and rather a shady place, are essential to 
its handsome growth. 
MAHONIA, OR ASH-BERRY. Mahonia. 
These are mostly natives of the valley of the Columbia river, 
and the finest low evergreen shrubs we have. The leaves are thick 
and glossy like those of the holly, with scolloped and prickly edges. 
1'hough pretty hardy, they are often injured by cold in winter. If 
not planted where living evergreens protect them in winter, they 
should be well covered with evergreen boughs. Their growth is so 
low and bushy that this can easily be done. 
The Holly-leaved Mahonia, M. aquifolium , is the best known 
variety. It forms a low broad bush covered with deep green glossy 
leaves, many of which in winter and spring are spangled with deep 
