Holly, Green

Description

Ilex Aquifolium

Festive, neat and prickly. Holly is a well-loved shrub that shelters birds and gives hedgehogs a cosy place to hibernate.  Holly is dioecious, meaning that male and female flowers occur on different bushes. Flowers are white with four petals. They bloom any time between early spring and the very beginning of summer, depending on the climate.

Each bush can grow to 15m high. Holly leaves are simple, shiny waxy green with spiny edges. Some leaves may be spineless. The white flowers have 4 petals arranged in clusters in the leaf axils. Male and female flowers on different trees (dioecious). It is the female shrub which has the red berries.

The leaves are eaten by caterpillars of the holly blue butterfly, the yellow-barred brindle, double-striped pug and the holly tortrix moths. The mistle thrush is known for vigorously guarding the berries of holly in winter to prevent other birds from eating them.

Holly was seen as a fertility symbol and a charm against witches, goblins and the devil. It was thought to be unlucky to cut down a holly bush.