Scientific name:

Ilex aquifolium

Vernacular name:

Holly

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Holly

Scientific name: Ilex aquifolium L.

Diagnostic features
Shrub or tree to 23m.
Leaves glossy, 5-12cm, ovate to elliptic, at least the lower undulate and strongly spinose at margins.
Fruits 6-10mm, ± globose, scarlet, sometimes yellow or orange.

Chromosome number: 2n=40.

Habitat
Native; woods, hedges and scrub.

Distribution
Common almost throughout British Isles.

This species is keyed out on Page 2788: Aquifoliaceae, Ilex in the Text Key.

Note
Many cultivars exist, some with variegated and/or ± spineless leaves.

Ilex aquifolium 2 (Shrub, picture taken in British Islands by R.E.N. Smith)
Ilex aquifolium 3 (Flowering habit, picture taken in the Netherlands by K. Ybema)
Ilex aquifolium 4 (Tree, picture taken in British Islands by R.E.N. Smith)
Ilex aquifolium 5 (Flowering branch (male), picture taken in Leicester by C.A. Stace)
Ilex aquifolium 6 (Flowering branch (female), picture taken in Leicester by C.A. Stace)
Ilex aquifolium 7 (Fruiting branch, picture taken in Leicester by C.A. Stace)

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