Ilex aquifolium L.
holly
Evergreen, dioecious, much-branched shrub or small tree up to c. 12 m high. Shoots puberulent when young, becoming glabrous, slightly ridged. Lvs usually puberulent when very young, becoming glabrous, alternate, elliptic, oblong or elliptic-ovate, dark glossy green above, paler below, (3)-5-8-(10) cm long; lf margin somewhat thickened, undulate, usually deeply serrate-spinose, the upper lvs in particular sometimes flat and entire with mucronate apex, but some lvs, especially those of juvenile and vegetative shoots, always spinous; petiole grooved, (3)-5-10-(15) mm long. Fls few to numerous in fascicles or small cymes; calyx teeth 4, broadly triangular, < tube, ciliolate; petals 4, white, 3-5 mm long; staminodes of ♀ fls large; vestigial ovary of ♂ fls much reduced. Fr. globose, bright red, 6-10 mm diam.
N.: Auckland City, Waikato, Levin, Hutt Valley; S.: Nelson City, inland from Kaikoura, common in lowland Canterbury including Christchurch, Dunedin and Otago Peninsula; St.: Halfmoon Bay area.
W., C., and S. Europe, W. Asia, N.W. Africa 1901
Scrubland and forest.
FL Oct-Nov.
As with many dioecious spp., the fls of holly are inconspicuous, but the fr. is brightly coloured and bird-dispersed. Bird-dispersal of seed accounts for the invasion of holly into both native and exotic forest. Variegated and spineless forms of I. aquifolium are also widely cultivated but have not been recorded in the wild. Several other Ilex spp. are also cultivated.
