utely ciliate. Leaves evergreen, simple, alternate, 2-4 inches
long, 1-1/2-3 inches wide, flat when compared with those of the European
holly, thickish, smooth on both sides, yellowish-green, scarcely glossy
on the upper surface, paler beneath, elliptical, oval or oval-oblong;
apex acutish, spine-tipped; base acutish or obtuse; margin wavy and
concave between the large spiny teeth, sometimes with one or two teeth
or entire; midrib prominent beneath; leafstalks short, grooved; stipules
minute, awl-shaped, becoming blackish, persistent.

=Inflorescence.=--Flowers in June along the base of the season's shoots;
sterile and fertile flowers usually on separate trees,--the sterile in
loose, few-flowered clusters, the fertile mostly solitary; peduncles and
pedicels slender, bracted midway; calyx persistent, with 4 pointed,
ciliate teeth; corolla white, monopetalous, with 4 roundish, oblong
divisions; stamens 4, alternating with and shorter than the lobes of the
corolla in the fertile flowers, but longer in the sterile; ovary green,
nearly cylindrical, surmounted by the sessile, 4-lobed stigma. Parts of
the flower sometimes in fives or sixes.

=Fruit.=--A dull red, berry-like drupe, with 4 nutlets, ribbed or
grooved on the convex back, ripening late, and persistent into winter. A
yellow-fruited form reported at New Bedford, Mass. (_Rhodora_, III, 58).

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy in southern New England; though preferring
moist, gravelly loam, it does fairly well in dry soil; of slow growth;
useful to form low plantation in shade and to enrich the undergrowth of
woods; occasionally sold by collectors but rare in nurseries; nursery
plants must be frequently transplanted to be moved successfully; only a
small percentage of ordinary collected plants live. The seed seldom
germinates in less than two years.

=Notes.=--The cultivated European holly, which the American tree closely
resembles, may be distinguished by its deeper green, glossier, and more
wave-margined leaves and the deeper red of its berries.

"There are several fine specimens of the _Ilex opaca_ on the farm of
Col. Minot Thayer in Braintree, Mass., which are about a foot in
diameter a yard above the ground and 25 feet in height. They have
maintained their present dimensions for more than fifty years."--D. T.
Browne's _Trees of North America_, published in 1846.

This estate is now owned by Mr. Thomas A. Watson. Several of these
trees have been cut down, but one o