Mountain Holly / Winterberrry Holly / Yaupon Holly
Parts Usually Used
Ilex aquifolium: Leaves Ilex verticillata: Bark, fruit Ilex vomitoria: Leaves
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Ilex aquifolium: Mountain holly is an evergreen tree or shrub; as a tree, it grows as high as 30 feet; as a shrub it reaches about 15 feet. It has smooth bark and green branches, which bear alternate, dark green, shiny, leathery or waxy, spiny leaves. During May and June, small white flowers appear in umbellate clusters, developing on the female plants into pea-sized, red, berry-like drupes which remain through the winter.
Ilex verticillata: Winterberry is a deciduous shrub, 6-8 feet high; the stems have bluish-gray bark and alternate branches. The leaves are elliptic-ovate or obovate, olive-green, glabrous on top and downy beneath. The plant bears small white flowers from May to July, after which come the pea-sized, glossy, red berries that remain on the stems and branches into winter. Ilex vomitoria: Yaupon holly is a small evergreen tree or shrub; its bark is close and whitish-gray; the leaves are alternate, leathery, lance-oval or elliptic, and crenate.
The nearly sessile, white flowers grow in axillary clusters from May to June, those on the female plants developing into red, berry-like drupes.
Where Found
Ilex aquifolium: Grows wild or is cultivated in Europe and is cultivated in the United States for Christmas decorations. Ilex verticillata: Common in swamps of eastern North America and in England. Ilex vomitoria: Grows in sandy woods and clearings from Florida to Texas, and north into Virginia and Arkansas.
Medicinal Properties
Ilex aquifolium: Astringent, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge Ilex verticillata: Bark: astringent, bitter tonic, febrifuge Berries: cathartic, vermifuge Ilex vomitoria: Emetic, stimulant
Legends, Myths and Stories
The powers of evil hated the yew and found the holly equally obnoxious, the reason being that the yew was generally found growing in churchyards and the word “holly” is similar in sound to the word “holy”. To the early Christians, however, the thorny foliage and flaming red berries of the holly represented the crown of thorns with drops of blood falling to the ground. They claimed this to be the true reason the herb was magically protective when brought into the home, shielding mortals from evil spirits that wandered over the land during bleak winter months.
According to other legends, holly blessed the home with prosperity and good fortune provided the plant was not removed from the Christmas decorations until the New Year, and in some countries it was never disturbed until Candlemas Day (February 2).
Uses
Herbalists historically utilized Ilex aquifolium for complaints such as gout, stones, urinary issues, chronic bronchitis, rheumatism, and arthritis. For Ilex verticillata, traditional practitioners sometimes combined the bark with goldenseal as an infusion for dyspepsia, or prepared a decoction of the bark as an external wash for skin irritations and eruptions. The berries were also historically combined with cedar apples for worms.
Native Americans traditionally smoked the leaves of Ilex vomitoria or toasted them in clay pots to prepare an infusion consumed for ceremonial purposes, including purification through emesis. The dried leaves were also historically prepared as a stimulating, caffeine-containing beverage.
Warning
Ilex aquifolium: The berries are mildly poisonous and are dangerous to small children. Ilex verticillata: The berries in sufficient quantity can cause poisoning. Ilex vomitoria: The berries are mildly poisonous and are dangerous to small children.
Bibliography
Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 The Herbalist Almanac , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. , Pantheon Books, Knopf Publishing Group, New York, 1994, first edition The Magic of Herbs in Daily Living , by Richard Lucas, Parker Publishing Co.
(1988). , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book) , edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. , 1974