This page is about our native Holly, Ilex aquifolium, its medicinal and other uses and place in folklore.
A native evergreen in the UK, holly is found widely, in forest and hedgerows, parkland and gardens. This familiar tree can grow as high as 15m / 50ft and live for 300 years. The glossy dark green oval leaves are spiky on young trees, but are smoother on older branches. Small white flowers grow on both male and female trees, and the insect-pollinated female flowers develop into the vivid scarlet berries that provide winter food for birds and small mammals.
Medicinal Uses
The primary active ingredient in holly is caffeine, which should be taken into consideration when thinking of using it medicinally. There are several different varieties of holly, and so some of the suggested medicinal properties described here may not relate to the one we know in the UK.
Historically, the leaves of holly, were dried to make a tea or tisane, thought to have a calming effect. Berries, being toxic, were sometimes used as purgatives, but such use could be fatal.
Modern preparations derived from the leaves are used to treat fever, joint pain, water retention and coughs, as well as hypertension.
WARNING: HOLLY BERRIES ARE HIGHLY TOXIC and ingesting them causes violent diarrhoea, vomiting, dehydration and potentially life-threatening illness.
Other Uses
The timber is hard and fine-grained, used for furniture making, for engraving and block printing, for inlay and marquetry work, and is a favourite wood for walking sticks. As firewood, it burns well with a strong heat.
Myth and Magic
Holly has long been associated with winter festivals: branches were offered as gifts in the ancient Roman celebration of Saturnalia. The Druids considered it a sacred tree, and it was thought to protect against witchcraft, which may be why so many old cottages have holly hedges.
A pagan legend of the seasons refers to King Holly, who defeated King Oak at the end of every summer, only to lose in their next battle at the end of winter. Christian legend tells that the holly tree sprang from Christ’s footsteps, the thorns and blood-red berries relating to his suffering on the cross.
Before the Victorian fashion of Christmas trees, people hung balls or rings made of holly, known as Holly Boughs, or Kissing Boughs (because they included mistletoe), and it was considered unlucky to take them down before the last day of Christmas.
DID YOU KNOW?
The words Holly, Hollin and Hollins appear in many old place names around Britain. The names of the old manor of Hollingworth in north Cheshire, and the village of Hollinsclough in north Staffordshire, may respectively derive from “a farm surrounded by holly trees” and “holly trees in a ravine”.
Acknowledgments: We are grateful to the following for some of the information above:
Culpeper’s Complete Herbal
http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk
http://www.herbwisdom.com
http://www.webmd.com
http://www.placenames.org.uk
