PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE 
129 
the next century Evelyn is loud in the praises of this “ incom¬ 
parable tree,” and admired it both for its beauty and its use. 
It is certainly the handsomest of our native evergreens, and is 
said to be finer in England than in any other country; and as 
seen growing in its wild habitats in our forests, as it may be 
seen in the New Forest and the Forest of Dean, it stands 
without a rival, equally beautiful in summer and in winter; in 
summer its bright glossy leaves shining out distinctly in the 
midst of any surrounding greenery, while as “ the Holly that 
outdares cold winter’s ire” (Browne), it is the very emblem 
of bright cheerfulness, with its foliage uninjured in the most 
severe weather, and its rich coral berries, sometimes borne in 
the greatest profusion, delighting us with their brilliancy and 
beauty. And as a garden shrub, the Holly still holds its own, 
after all the fine exotic shrubs that have been introduced into 
our gardens during the present century. It can be grown as a 
single shrub, or it may be clipped, and will then form the best 
and the most impregnable hedge that can be grown. No 
other plant will compare with it as a hedge plant, if it be only 
properly attended to, and we can understand Evelyn’s pride in 
his “ glorious and refreshing object,” a Holly hedge 400ft. in 
length, 9ft. in height, and 5 ft. in diameter, which he could 
show in his “poor gardens at any time of the year, glittering 
with its armed and vernished leaves,” and “ blushing with their 
natural Coral.” 1 Nor need we be confined to plain green in 
such a hedge. The Holly runs into a great many varieties, 
with the leaves of all shapes and sizes, and blotched and 
variegated in different fashions and colours. All of these 
seem to be comparatively modern. In the time of Gerard 
and Parkinson there seems to have been only the one typical 
species, and perhaps the Hedgehog Holly. 
I may finish the notice of the Holly by quoting two most 
remarkable uses of the tree mentioned by Parkinson : “ With 
the flowers of Holly, saith Pliny from Pythagoras, water is 
made ice ; and againe, a staffe of the tree throwne at any 
beast, although it fall short by his defect that threw it, will flye 
1 “Sylva,” b. II, c. vi. sq. 
K 
