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Ilex laevigata (Pursh) A. Gray

Modern name

Ilex laevigata (Pursh) A. Gray

Synonyms

Prinos laevigatus Pursh

A deciduous shrub 6 to 8 ft high; young shoots glabrous. Leaves narrowly oval, obovate or lanceolate, tapered at both ends, 112 to 212 in. long, 12 to 34 in. wide, finely pointed, obscurely toothed, pale green and glossy on both surfaces, and glabrous except sometimes for a little down along the veins beneath; stalk 14 in. or less long. Male flower on slender stalks 13 to 34 in. long; female ones on very short stalks; calyx glabrous. Fruits orange-red, 13 in. in diameter, solitary.

Native of the eastern United States; introduced in 1812. This is not so well known in gardens as I. verticillata, nor is it perhaps so ornamental with us. It is closely allied to that species, under the notice of which some distinctions are pointed out. It may be added here that the leaf-stalks are generally shorter and the fruits larger in I. laevigata. Both species grow in low, wet situations in the wild.

f. herveyi Robins. – Fruits yellow.


Genus

Ilex

Other species in the genus