Ilex aquifolium
Poisonous plant
Common name
holly
Family
Aquifoliaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
ILEAQU
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Features
An evergreen much branched shrub or small tree to 12 m tall. Leaves (3-10cm long) alternate along the stem, and are dark glossy green above, paler below, with the characteristic undulating, thick, usually deeply serrate margins, with a spine at the point. Flowers occur as clusters, with 4 white petals (3-5mm long). Conspicuous bright red spherical berries develop in the winter.
Flowering
October, November
Flower colours
White
Life cycle
Perennial
Year naturalised
1901
Origin
W., C., and S. Europe, W. Asia, N.W. Africa
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Etymology
ilex: An old Latin name for the Holm oak, which holly allegedly resembles
Poisonous plant
Most parts of this plant are poisonous especially the scarlet red berries.
References and further reading
Johnson, A. T. and Smith, H. A (1986). Plant Names Simplified: Their pronunciation, derivation and meaning. Landsman Bookshop Ltd: Buckenhill, UK.