Ilex aquifolium L.
Eng.: Holly. Spa.: Acebo. Fre.: Houx. Ara.: Kerruch attani, aud ech chuq, abddéjisser, aud ech chuq, tasaft-n-yizem. Tam.: Tir’resukt, tiguersal, iguersal, deguersal, abddëjisser, igri.
Evergreen shrub or tree, dioecious, up to 10-12 m in height, erect, very ramose and dense. When it becomes a tree, it usually has a straight trunk, with smooth bark, slightly or not fissured in the middle and upper parts, greyish-brown. Branches upright, greyish, glabrous. Branchlets greenish, usually puberulent. Leaves (4-12 cm long) from ovate to ovate-oblong, ± ellipsoid, acute, petiolate, alternate, rigid, with undulate margin with large spiny teeth, sometimes with entire margin (especially in older trees), completely glabrous, bright dark green on the upper side and greenish-yellowish, matt on the underside. Dioecious flowering. Inflorescence axillary in dense cymes, or more rarely, solitary flowers. Flowers 5-9 mm in diameter, tetramerous (rarely pentamerous). Calyx with 4 ovate sepals, greenish and somewhat hairy. Corolla with 4 petals fused at the base, concave, ovate, white or pink; usually with small purple spots, highly visible in bud. Stamens 4, inserted between the petals. Fruits drupaceous, globose (6-10 mm), fleshy, with smooth and deep red, shiny surface, with peduncle of the same length. Seeds 3-5, slightly elongated, triangular in cross section.
Flowering:
March to June.
Fruiting:
October to December.
Habitat:
Forests (fir, cedar, Portuguese and Holm oak forests) on very different types of substrates, siliceous and calcareous, up to about 2,600 m in altitude. Generally protected within the forest or between large rocky areas that provide the species with shade and humidity. From subhumid to hyperhumid bioclimate, on mesomediterranean and supramediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Central and southern Europe, SW Asia and North Africa. In North Africa it is found in the more humid forested mountains of Morocco (central-western Rif, Middle Atlas, High Atlas), Algeria (eastern Tellian Atlas and the Aures and Bellezma massifs), and Tunisia (Krumiria). It has been cited as a native in Jebel Ahkdar (NE Libya) but its presence here seems doubtful.
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, it is listed as Least Concern (LC) at global level (Khela, 2013).