Tree of the Month
HOLLY (Ilex aquifolium)
Holly is a slow growing evergreen shrub or small tree with numerous garden varieties that grows up to 10 metres tall. Holly has tough, spiny dark green leaves and white flowers. Holly trees are either male or female: only the female shrubs bear berries. These are popular with birds, particularly thrushes and blackbirds, but are poisonous to humans.
Historically holly had had many uses – it was believed the whooping cough could be cured by drinking milk from a bowl made of the wood. Holly is the emblematic plant of the festive season, but in the past this species was prized for more than mere decorative value. Sheep and cattle will browse on it despite the sharp leaf spines and so in some parts of Britain it has served as an emergency food supply for stock in hard winters. Holly is a variable species and the prickliness of the foliage varies from tree to tree. The berries are poisonous but the leaves were once used to treat gout, bronchitis and rheumatism.
A common insect that uses holly as its food source is the holly leaf miner – it lives inside the leaf and produces characteristic trails through it that are easily visible. Blue tits feed on the leaf miner and sometimes leaves can be found with a small triangular tear where the bird has pecked the leaf to access the miner.
Holly leaves are a popular Christmas decoration.
IF YOU KNOW OF AN ANCIENT TREE OR MAYBE A TREE WITH AN HISTORICAL INTEREST, PLEASE CONTACT VIRGINIA AT BTCV ON 01233 666519.
