The holly ( Ilex aquifolium L .), also known as holly, thorny laurel or butcher's broom, is a plant belonging to the Aquifoliaceae family.
The holly is a dioecious evergreen shrub up to 10 m tall, it has a pyramidal crown , smooth gray bark and greenish branches .
It is spontaneous in Italy, with foliage that may seem persistent to the uninitiated: in reality the leaves live for a whole year and are not renewed all at the same time. The leaves are dark green glossy, decorative, with variegated varieties of white, cream or yellow.
The orange/reddish fruits offer a decorative contrast with the color of the leaves, which are alternate or scattered, oval or elliptical, coriaceous, with a spiny margin in the lower branches of young plants, entire in adult plants.
The flowers are small and gathered in axillary bundles, with 4 white or pinkish, unisexual petals; the male ones have 4 stamens, the female ones a pistil with a superior ovary surmounted by 4 almost sessile stigmas; during the winter they bear globular drupes of a bright bright red color when ripe, containing 2-4 triangular seeds.