Holly
Ilex aquifolium
Description
Holly is one of the most common and prolific native evergreen trees in this country. The small dark glossy green and undulating leaves, frequently with spiny lobes, and clusters of red berries in autumn make it easily recognisable. The bark is grey and generally smooth but often appears knobbly where old branch stubs have been overgrown with new bark. Holly can grow to a height in excess of 15m but is more usually seen as a small tree as well as being commonly used to form hedgerows.
Like the Yew, Holly is botanically categorised as dioecious from a Greek derivation meaning ‘Two Households’. This defines a species that will only grow either male or female flowers on a particular tree. This means that only those Holly trees having female flowers in spring will go on to produce berries containing seeds. Other common native trees such as Oak and Beech grow both male and female flowers and so every tree can produce seeds – this is termed Monoecious, meaning ‘One Household’. Being a native tree, there is much folklore and myth associated with Holly trees and woods.
Situation
Throughout the New Forest, Holly can be found thriving in settings as diverse as woodland, open heath, farmland and gardens. Holly typically regrows vigorously when cut which makes it an excellent choice for hedgerows in both urban and rural situations. Being shade tolerant, Holly forms one of the common understorey plants beneath larger trees in many woodland settings. Holly seeds establish readily onto the open heath and its ability to regrow when cut enables it to survive repeated browsing by deer and Commoners stock. In his book 'Ancient Woodland', Oliver Rackman elaborates on the importance of Holly as fodder in the New Forest since ancient times and says that repeatedly pollarded specimens may be more that 250 years old.
At certain times of year, small branch tips are found lying on the ground around some Holly trees. These have been bitten off by the ponies and are left to lie for some days before being eaten. This process is thought to make the leaves more palatable.
Holly trees are traditionally known as ‘Holms’, hence the name given to the areas where they grew such as Shirley Holmes and Holmsley Copse, [and the name Holm Oak, an alternative name for the Evergreen Oak (Quercus ilex, meaning Holly leaved Oak)].
| Flowers | Leaves | Fruit |
|
April and May |
All year Small, dark green and more or less convoluted with spiny lobes |
Autumn Small green berries start forming in June but only finally ripen to red in the Autumn of the following year. Comprising dense clusters along the outer twigs, the berries are poisonous to man but readily eaten by birds and so the seeds are widely distributed |
Uses
Strikingly white wood much used in furniture making and with a straight grain making it ideal for tool handles. The berries have been used as an emetic and the boiled and fermented inner bark of Holly was traditionally used to make Birdlime; a sticky substance smeared onto branches to trap small birds. Holly makes good logs for burning on domestic fires and twigs with berries are ubiquitous for decoration, especially at Christmas time.
