Ilex crenata

Ilex crenata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Aquifoliales
Family:	Aquifoliaceae
Genus:	Ilex
Species:	I. crenata
Binomial name
Ilex crenata Thunb.

Ilex crenata (Japanese holly or box-leaved holly; Japanese: イヌツゲ inutsuge) is a species of holly native to eastern China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Sakhalin.^[1]

It is an evergreen shrub or small tree growing to a height of 3–5 m (rarely 10 m) tall, with a trunk diameter up to 20 cm. The leaves are glossy dark green, small, 10–30 mm long and 10–17 mm broad, with a crenate margin, sometimes spiny. The flowers are dioecious, white, four-lobed. The fruit is a black drupe 5 mm diameter, containing four seeds. It grows well in acidic soil, between a pH of 3.7 and 6.0.^[2][3][4]

Cultivation

Ilex crenata edging parterre beds in an English garden

I. crenata is grown as an ornamental plant for its dense evergreen foliage, and is a popular plant among Bonsai enthusiasts.^[5] It is superficially similar in appearance to box, and is often used in similar situations; it can readily be distinguished from box by its alternate, not opposite, leaf arrangement.

Numerous cultivars have been selected, including plants with the leaves variegated (e.g. 'Golden Gem', 'Shiro-Fukurin'), dark green (e.g. 'Green Lustre'), or greyish-green (e.g. 'Bad Zwischenahn'); with yellow fruit (e.g. 'Ivory Hall'); and with the habit erect (e.g. 'Chesapeake'), spreading (e.g. 'Green Island', 'Hetzii'), or dwarf (e.g. 'Mariesii', 'Stokes').^[4] The variety 'Golden Gem'^[6] has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

References

1. Germplasm Resources Information Network: Ilex crenata
2. Osaka hundred trees: Ilex crenata (in Japanese; google translation)
3. Okayama Science University: Ilex crenata (in Japanese; google translation)
4. Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
5. "Japanese Holly Bonsai". BonsaiDojo.net.
6. "RHS Plant Selector". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 2013-05-20.

External links