Birth flower
Holly
Ilex aquifolium. In the language of flowers, as lists print it today, it stands for defence. Kate Greenaway's dictionary of 1884 gives it another: “Foresight”. It is a custom of sentiment, not a scientific or official designation.
- Latin name
- Ilex aquifolium
- Month
- December
- Meaning today
- defenceNot the reading of 1884: Kate Greenaway gives “Foresight”.
The plant itself
| Family | Aquifoliaceae |
|---|---|
| Native to | western and southern Europe, north-west Africa and south-west Asia |
| Habit | shrub |
| Height | up to 15 m as a tree, usually far less as a hedge |
| Flowers | May to June, with the berries ripening from late autumn |
Holly is dioecious: a plant is either male or female, and only a female bears berries, so a berryless holly is not failing but is simply male. The prickles are also not uniform — leaves higher up the tree, out of a browsing animal's reach, are often smooth-edged.
Where the names come from
Holly, from the mid-1400s, is a shortening of the earlier holin, from the Old English holegn or holen. It is related to Celtic words such as the Welsh celyn, and all probably go back to a root meaning to prick, for the prickly leaves. The genus name, Ilex, is the Latin for the holm oak. The species name, aquifolium, is from the Latin aquifolius, having prickly or pointed leaves, from acus, a needle, and folium, a leaf.
Where the meaning is written down
- As the dictionary prints it
- ForesightUnder the heading “Holly” in Kate Greenaway, Language of Flowers, 1884.
- As lists print it today
- DefenceA different reading from the entry quoted here; the note below says where it differs.
Greenaway's entry is simply "Holly — Foresight", and Ingram's Flora Symbolica (1869) gives the same. The "defence" printed today is in neither.
Is it poisonous?
The ASPCA lists holly, Ilex aquifolium included, as toxic to dogs, cats and horses through saponins, causing vomiting, diarrhoea and depression, though it rates the leaves and berries as of low toxicity. The RHS says the fruit is ornamental and not to be eaten, by people or by pets.
Each finding above names who made it: the ASPCA's poisonous plant database, the Royal Horticultural Society's harm ratings, or a published report. This is general information and not veterinary advice — if an animal or a person has eaten part of a plant, ring a vet or a poison line rather than reading a website.