Part 19

1. Holly Tree 2. Blunt Leaf 3. Prickly Leaf 4. Flower Cluster 5. Fruit]

People say that the Holly, or Holm tree, as it is often called, is the greenwood tree spoken of by Shakespeare, and that under its bushy shelter Robin Hood and his merry men held their meetings in the open glades of Sherwood Forest. Sometimes it is called the Holy tree, because from the oldest time of which we have any record its boughs have been used to deck our shrines and churches, and in some parts of England the country people in December speak of gathering Christmas, which is the name they give to the Holly, or Holy tree. It is this evergreen which we oftenest use at Christmas-tide to decorate our churches, and very lovely the dark green sprays, with their coral berries, look when twined round the grey stone pillars.

The Holly is looked upon as a second-rate forest tree. It is never very large, and it usually appears as a thick, tall bush, with many branches reaching almost to the ground. Sometimes you find it with a slender, bare trunk, clothed with pale grey bark, and if you look closely at this bark you will see that it is covered with curious black markings, as if some strange writing had been traced on it with a heavy black pen.

This writing is the work of a tiny plant which makes its home on the Holly stem and spreads in this strange way.

The bark of the young Holly shoots and boughs is pale green and quite smooth.

The tree requires little sunshine, and it seems to keep all it gets, as every leaf is highly polished and reflects the light like a mirror. These leaves grow closely on every branch; they are placed alternately on each side of the twigs, and are oval, with the edges so much waved that the leaves will not lie flat, but curl on each side of the centre rib.

The prickly leaves (3) which grow low down on the tree have sharp spines along the waved edges, and a very sharp spine always grows at the point of the leaf. But the upper branches are clothed with blunt leaves (2) which have no spines along the edges; instead there is a pale yellow line round each leaf, and there is a single blunt spine at the point.

Sheep and deer are very fond of eating the tough, leathery leaves of the Holly, and it is believed that the tree clothes its lower branches in prickly leaves to protect itself from these greedy enemies.

Country people tell you that if branches of smooth Holly are the first to be brought into the house at Christmas-time, then the wife will be head of the house all the next year, but if the prickly boughs enter first, then the husband will be ruler.

The Holly leaves hang on the tree several years, and after they fall they lie a long time on the ground before the damp soaks through their leathery skin and makes them decay. You will find Holly leaves from which all the green part of the leaf has disappeared, leaving a beautiful skeleton leaf of grey fibre, which is still perfect in every vein and rib.

The flowers (4) of the Holly bloom in May. They appear in small crowded clusters between the leaf stalk and the twig, and each flower is a delicate pale pink on the outside, but is pure white within. There is a calyx cup edged with four green points, and inside this cup stands a long white tube, with four white petals at the top. There are four yellow-headed stamens, and a tiny seed-vessel is hidden inside the flower tube. Sometimes all these parts will be found complete in a single flower; sometimes there will be flowers on the same branch which have stamens and no seed-vessel, and others which have seed-vessels and no stamens. Perhaps you will find a whole tree on which not a single seed flower grows. This tree may be laden with lovely white flowers in spring, but it will bear no berries in winter. You must have both stamen flowers and seed flowers if the tree is to produce any fruit.

As summer passes, the seed-vessels, which have had stamen dust scattered over them, become small green berries (5), and these berries turn yellow and then change into a deep red, the colour of coral or sealing-wax. The berries cluster round the green stalk, and most beautiful they are among the glossy dark leaves. Inside each berry there are four little fruit stones containing seeds, and the birds love to eat these red berries, which are full of mealy pulp; but remember that children must never eat the Holly berries, as they are poisonous except for the birds.

You will find that if the Holly tree has a good crop of berries this winter there will not be many the following year; the tree seems to require a year’s rest before it can produce a second large crop.

There are some Holly trees with leaves which are shaded with pale yellow or white--variegated Hollies, we call them. These are greatly prized for planting in gardens, where the bushes with different-coloured leaves lend much beauty when all the trees are bare in winter.

The wood of the Holly is too small to be of much use. It is white and very hard, and when stained black it is largely used instead of ebony, which is scarce and expensive. The black handles of many of our silver teapots are made of stained Holly wood. A sticky lime, which is used for snaring birds, is made from the young green shoots and twigs, and the slender branches are good for making walking-sticks and coachmen’s whips.

PLATE XXIV

THE WILD CHERRY OR GEAN

There are now more than forty varieties of Cherry in Britain, and they all are descended from the Gean or Wild Cherry tree. This favourite tree belongs to the great Rose family, and is related to the Apple, and Pear, and Plum. It grows freely all over Britain except in the very north of Scotland; and we read that six hundred years ago the county of Kent was famous for its Cherry orchards.

THE WILD CHERRY

1. Wild Cherry or Gean in Autumn 2. Flower Cluster with Leaves 3. Fruit]

In Germany the Cherry is planted for many miles by the roadsides, so that all passers-by may eat the fruit and enjoy the shade cast by the tall trees. And if there should be any particular tree whose fruit the owner does not wish taken, he ties a wisp of straw round that tree, and the people understand the sign and do not touch these Cherries.

In France the Wild Cherry fruit, along with a little bread and butter, is often the only food of the poor charcoal-burners and wood-cutters, who stay in the forest during the cold winter months.

Song birds, especially the blackbirds, love to eat cherries, and as we are very grateful to the birds for eating the many grubs and insects which destroy our fruit and corn, we must not grudge them a feast from our Cherry trees. It is probably the birds who have carried the seeds to the many different places where we find Cherry trees springing up.

The Wild Cherry (1) is a tall tree with wide-spreading branches. It has a smooth grey bark, from which you will often see oozing large drops of clear gum. This gum is very sticky, it will not melt in cold water, and it is very difficult to remove from your fingers. The Wild Cherry leaves (2) appear in spring, long oval leaves ending in a point, and with sharp teeth along the edge. These leaves are very soft, and they droop from the twigs. At first the leaf is folded lengthways, with the two edges meeting, and it is a dull brown colour; but this colour soon changes in the sunshine to a soft green, and when autumn comes you find leaves of every shade of pink and red and crimson.

The large white Cherry blossoms (2) come almost at the same time as the leaves, and they grow in loose clusters, in which the flowers hang from the end of long, drooping stalks. There are always many small leaf-like scales where these flower stalks join the twig. Each blossom has a pear-shaped calyx at the end of the flower stalk, and this calyx is edged with five green points. These points fold back against the stalk after the flower is withered.

There are five large snowy petals which make the flower clusters look very lovely in the spring sunshine, but the petals fall very quickly and strew the ground with their snowy flakes.

Within the petal circle there are many slender stamens, and you can see a long red-tipped point rising from the seed-vessel, which lies concealed in the pear-shaped calyx which stands beneath the petals and sepals.

The Wild Cherry fruit (3) is black, and sometimes dark red. It is rather sour, and the cherries we buy in the shops are usually cherries which have been cultivated in an orchard, and have been grown in a warmer country.