Holly
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Holly is a frequent spot in forests all across the UK, especially amongst oak and beech forests.
It thrives in moist, shady environments, like cliffs and gorges, and is often a pioneer species on land returned to the wild.
Holly is also intrinsically linked to winter, being an icon of Christmas, and a crucial cold season food source for birds and small mammals.
Although it is rare, holly trees can live for up to 500 years.
Plant description
Holly grows as an evergreen shrub or a tree, reaching around to 25m tall. The bark is smooth and brown, and the stems are green. The leaves are glossy, spiny edged and dark green, about 7cm long and 3cm wide. On higher branches and older plants, the leaves are less spiny.
The flowers are small, fragrant and white, with four petals. The fruits are spherical, 9mm across, contain four seeds and are normally red, but can occasionally be yellow. The fruits grow in clusters next to the leaves.
Plant uses
Cultural
Holly is linked to Christmas, since it is evergreen and bears fruit in winter, and is often used in wreaths and Christmas displays.
Holly was given as a gift during the Roman winter festival of Saturnalia.
Materials and fuels
Holly wood is an excellent firewood, burning very hot.
Holly wood is a very white hardwood that was previously used to make furniture, instruments and engravings.
Historically, holly was used as a feed for farm animals during the winter.
Did you know?
In Druidic tradition, holly was a symbol of fertility and eternal life, and cutting a tree down was considered bad luck.
In Christian tradition, holly fruit was originally white, but dyed red from the spilled blood of Jesus.
Holly is one of the title plants in the Christmas carol The Holly and the Ivy, which dates back to the 19th century.
Holly plants can often have a mix of smooth and spiky leaves, with the spiky variety being produced in response to animals grazing on them at lower levels.
Where in the world?
In moist, shady areas, often within the undergrowth of forests.
Find it in our gardens
Kew Gardens
A botanic garden in southwest London with the world’s most diverse living plant collection.
Location
Rose Garden, Arboretum, Natural Area
View map of Kew GardensBest time to see
Wakehurst
Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex that has over 500 acres of plants from around the world and is home to the Millennium Seed Bank.
Location
Rock Walk, Bethlehem Wood, Tree Trunk Trek
View map of WakehurstBest time to see
Our work
The Millennium Seed Bank contains millions of seeds from plants all over the world, including collections from UK holly trees.
But you probably wouldn’t think that such a common species would be a real challenge to bank.
When seeds are brought into the collection, they are given a health check before going through germination tests to make sure they can sprout successfully.
But if, like holly, the seed has a dormancy period, it can be a challenge.
Kew’s Germination Specialist Rachael Davies set up germination tests on holly seeds based on UK climate conditions, changing the conditions following seasonal changes, but no germination occurred.
She had just about given up when finally, more than three and a half years and several winter temperature cycles later, there was suddenly a flurry of germinated seeds.
Up to 90 per cent of the seeds had germinated in just three weeks.
Holly is believed to have what’s called ‘morphophysiological dormancy’, which means it needs time and seasonal changes to mature as a seed.
In this case, they needed over three years worth of temperature cycles to spring to life.
Seed dormancy is thought to be a survival mechanism, allowing the seed to sprout in beneficial conditions, and give it the best chance to survive.
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