ILEX.

ILEX AQUIFOLIUM.--Common Holly. Europe (Britain) and West Asia. Though
the Hollies are not usually reckoned ornamental for the sake of their
flowers, their berries are highly so. Some of them are nevertheless
deliciously fragrant when in bloom. The leaves of this, our native
species, in their typical form are oblong-ovate, wavy, and deeply
spiny-toothed. The tree flowers in May and June, while the clusters of
bright red berries ripen in autumn, persist all the winter, and
sometimes even hang on tree till a second crop is matured, provided they
are not devoured by birds during severe weather. The varieties are very
numerous, and differ chiefly in the form and toothing of the leaves,
which are variegated in many cases, their size and form, and in the
colour of the berries in a few instances.

I. Aquifolium albo-marginata has ovate, nearly flat, spiny-serrate
leaves, with a narrow silvery margin, and fruits freely. I. Aquifolium
fructu albo has white berries; in I. Aquifolium fructu luteo they are
yellow and very abundantly produced; and in I. Aquifolium fructu nigro
they are black. I. Aquifolium handsworthensis has elliptic-oblong spiny
leaves, with a creamy-white margin and marbled with gray. Grafted trees
bear berries in great profusion from the time they are only a foot high,
and are highly ornamental. I. Aquifolium Hodginsii has large, broadly
oblong-ovate, slightly spiny leaves, and large crimson-red berries that
ripen late in autumn. I. Aquifolium Hodginsii aurea is a sub-variety
with a broad golden margin to the leaves, and the disc splashed with
gray. Beautiful and distinct is I. Aquifolium Lawsoniana, with ovate,
flat, almost spineless leaves, heavily and irregularly blotched with
yellow in the centre. The berries are of a brilliant red. The variety
differs from Milkmaid in having flat, nearly entire leaves. I.