About

Ilex aquifolium, the holly, common holly, English holly, European holly, or occasionally Christmas holly, is a species of flowering plant in the family Aquifoliaceae, native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia. It is regarded as the type species of the genus Ilex, which by association is also called holly. It is an evergreen tree or shrub found, for example, in shady areas of forests of oak and in beech hedges. In the British Isles it is one of very few native hardwood evergreen trees. It has a great capacity to adapt to different conditions and is a pioneer species that repopulates the margins of forests or clearcuts.

European holly can exceed 15 m in height, but is often found at much smaller heights, typically 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft) tall and broad, with a straight trunk and pyramidal crown, branching from the base.

How to grow it

Ilex aquifolium is widely grown in parks and gardens in temperate regions. Hollies are often used for hedges; the spiny leaves make them difficult to penetrate, and they take well to pruning and shaping. Holly can grow in a wide variety of difficult soils including clay, acidic, and nutrient poor soils, but is intollerant of poor drainage. In wet conditions it is likely to have problems such as root rot, canker, or leaf blight.

Safety

Holly berries contain alkaloids, theobromine, saponins, caffeic acid, and a yellow pigment, ilixanthin. The berries are generally regarded as toxic to humans.

Where it grows

Holly is native to much of the western half of Europe as well as northwestern Africa. Its native status in central and Eastern Europe is disputed. According to Plants of the World Online (POWO) it is not native or reproducing in Poland or Hungary, but is native to Bulgaria and Romania. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) its status in Romania is uncertain and it is introduced and naturalized to some extant in Hungary, though they agree that it is not found in Poland or eastward in northern Europe. In response to climate change the species is shifting northwards in Norway and towards to the northeast in Denmark and Germany. By 2005 it was found as far north as Kristiansund in Norway, though still limited to a fringe of the county immediately adjacent to the North Sea.

Uses

As early as the 1200s and into the first part of the 1700s Ilex aquifolium was cultivated for use as winter fodder for many domestic animals. Sheep were most frequently fed holly, but horses and cattle were also given it and branches were cut down for red deer. This practice is best documented in southern areas of the Pennines near Sheffield, but might have been more widespread in Britain and there are a few instances of it recorded in northwest France. The smooth leaves were specifically selected to be cut in at least some instances. Though the practice is much rarer, branches are still cut for sheep or cattle in Dumfries, Derbyshire, Cumbria, and in the New Forest. It was also practiced in Ireland until the middle of the twentieth century.

Other Ilex plants

Dahoon · Ilex chapaensis · Ilex chinensis · Large gallberry · Japanese holly · Marsh Holly · Possumhaw · Inkberry · Guayusa · Elegance female holly · Ilex kaushue · Tarajo Holly