Holly is native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. Holly flowers are pollinated by bees, another reason to be concerned about the failing of native been populations. Holly is diocecious, meaning that there are male plants and female plants. The sex cannot be determined until the plants begin flowering, usually between 4 and 12 years of age. In male specimens, the flowers are yellowish and appear in axillary groups. In the female, flowers are isolated or in groups of three and are small and white or slightly pink. The fruit only appears on female plants, which require male plants nearby to fertilise them.
The fruit is a drupe (stone fruit), about 6–10 mm in diameter, a bright red or bright yellow, which matures around October or November; at this time they are very bitter due to the ilicin content and so are rarely eaten until late winter after frost has made them softer and more palatable. They are eaten by rodents, birds and larger herbivores. Each fruit contains 3 to 4 seeds which do not germinate until the second or third spring.
In traditional medicine, holly was used as a diuretic, a relief from fever, and a laxative. Nowasays holly has no forage value, but between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries, before the introduction o turnips, Ilex aquifolium was cultivated for use as winter fodder for cattle and sheep in some parts of Europe. Obviously, less spiny varieties of holly were preferred and in practice the leaves growing near the top of the tree have far fewer spines, making them more suitable for fodder. |