Introduction 
A Holly tree, unlike many other trees, resembles 
people in that the trees are either Male or Female. 
The leaves of both trees are thick and spiny and 
are of a dark green color. Holly never sheds all of 
its leaves at one time; as a matter of fact it always 
retains the leaves for two years and in the spring 
when the new growth begins it then loses the 
leaves that formed two years ago and this cycle 
continues for the life of the tree. It is not unusual 
to find Holly for the first twenty years of its life, 
if properly cared for, to attain a growth of more 
than a foot a year. Holly trees are known to have 
grown 50 feet and taller and have attained trunk 
diameters of more than 2 feet. Some of these trees 
growing today are estimated to be 300 or more 
years old. 
There is much folk-lore, legend and myth con- 
nected with the historical significance of Holly and 
in America we have Hollies that were planted at 
Williamsburg, Virginia and at Mount Vernon in 
the days of the early settlers. It is entirely pos- 
sible that George Washington was instrumental in 
the planting of some of these old trees. 
Unfortunately in America the better Hollies 
were not cared for properly and a large portion 
of the specimen trees were used as timber, or for 
the manufacture of furniture; the textile industry 
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