Common Holly (Ilex aquifolium)
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Common Holly (Ilex aquifolium) by Evelyn Simak as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Common Holly (Ilex aquifolium)
Image: © Evelyn Simak Taken: 11 Oct 2007
The holly is a tree which is both a broadleaf and an evergreen. The plant is a native shrub or small tree throughout the UK except for Caithness, Orkney and Shetland. Holly is normally dioecious, which means that there are separate male and female plants. The female plant produces berries in October. When growing in the wild, trees are usually 20 or more years old before they start producing berries. Holly berries are an important food source for many birds. Holly contains theobromine, an alkaloid that is related to caffeine and found in chocolate. If a child or dog eats 1-2 holly berries, it is unlikely to cause a problem, but 20 berries could apparently be fatal. For a more distant view see Image More more detailed information on holly see http://www.rfs.org.uk/thirdlevel.asp?ThirdLevel=173&SecondLevel=33
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
52.705919
Longitude
1.702508