Holly

Holly

Group?
Plants – a small tree often growing as a shrub.

Evergreen or Deciduous?
Evergreen

Is it native to Britain?
Yes.

Leaves
The leaf shape is very easy to recognise. Each leaf is dark green and glossy and the edge is bent up and down into sharp spikes.

Flowers?
It has male and female flowers. They appear on the tree around May.

The male flowers apper on the upper side of branches, the female flowers appear underneath the branches.

Pollination?
By insects.

Seeds/fruits?
After pollination, the female flowers develop into red berries, each contains 4 seeds. Twigs of holly are often gathered from the tree and brought indoors at Christmas for decoration

Seed dispersal?
By birds and animals which eat the berries.

What eats them?
Leaves – A few special insects which can dig into the leaves (leaf miners).
Berries – Birds epecially thrushes and blackbirds. 
Trunk and branches – Some beetles and their grubs feed on wood and make tunnels in it.

• Plant Parts
• What are plants?
• Sycamore
• Rhododendron
• Monkey Puzzle Tree
• European Lime
• Horse Chesnut
• Holly
• Coniferous Tree Family
• Red Campion
• Primrose
• Ivy
• Grasses
• Fern
• Bluebells
• Plants of Glynllifon Woodland