Narrative

The Ilex altaclersis hybrids derive from I. aquifloium and I. perado. These are large evergreen shrubs and trees that can grow to 60 feet tall. There are many named varieties of this rich complex. This form has yellowish gold leaf centers.

This lifeform is only found domesticated.

Hollies (genus Ilex) are a group of 400 trees, bushes, and climbers that can have either smooth-edged or toothed leaves and evergreen or deciduous leaves. The leaves of all members of this genus are alternate. There are 28 species, one hybrid, and eight subspecies listed in the Kartesz listing of greater North America which includes United States, Canada, Hawaii, Greenland, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Several species with bright red fruits and evergreen leaves are used as Christmas decorations.

Holly Family (Ilicaceae to Aquifoliaceae) is a small family of about 420 species with greatest distribution in the New World tropics. Most species are evergreens. There are 28 species in the Ilex genus and one species in the Nemopanthus genus growing in greater North America.

Sapindales Order is a diverse group of mostly trees and shrubs.

Dicots (Dicotyledoneae Class) are the predominant group of vascular plants on earth. With the exception of the grasses (Monocots) and the Conifers (Gymnosperms), most of the larger plants that one encounters are Dicots. Dicots are characterized by having a seed with two outer shell coverings.

Some of the more primitive Dicots are the typical hardwood trees (oaks, birches, hickories, etc). The more advanced Dicots include many of the Composite (Aster) Family flowers like the Dandelion, Aster, Thistles, and Sunflowers. Although many Monocots reach a very high degree of specialization, most botanists feel that the Dicots represent the most advanced group of plants.

Seed plants (Phylum Embryophyta) are generally grouped into one large phylum containing three major classes: the Gymnosperms, the Monocots, and the Dicots. (Some scientists separate the Gymnosperms into a separate phylum and refer to the remaining plants as flowering plants or Angiospermae.)

For North American counts of the number of species in each genus and family, the primary reference has been John T. Kartesz, author of A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland (1994). The geographical scope of his lists include, as part of greater North America, Hawaii, Alaska, Greenland, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Kartesz lists 21,757 species of vascular plants comprising the ferns, gymnosperms and flowering plants as being found in greater North America (including Alaska, Hawaii, Greenland, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

There are estimates within the scientific world that about half of the listed North American seed plants were originally native with the balance being comprised of Eurasian and tropical plants that have become established.