− | Describe the plant here...
| + | '''''Ilex crenata''''' ('''Japanese Holly''' or '''Box-leaved Holly'''; [[Japanese language|Japanese]]: イヌツゲ ''inutsuge'') is a species of [[holly]] native to eastern [[China]], [[Japan]], [[Korea]], [[Taiwan]], and [[Sakhalin]].<ref name=grin>Germplasm Resources Information Network: [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?19691 ''Ilex crenata'']</ref> |
| + | 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 [[leaf|leaves]] are glossy dark green, small, 10-30 mm long and 10-17 mm broad, with a crenate margin, sometimes spiny. The [[flower]]s are [[plant sexuality|dioecious]], white, four-lobed. The [[fruit]] is a black [[drupe]] 5 mm diameter, containing four [[seed]]s. It grows well in acidic soil, between a [[pH]] of 3.7 and 6.0.<ref name=oht>Osaka hundred trees: [http://www.ne.jp/asahi/osaka/100ju/Inutuge.htm ''Ilex crenata''] (in Japanese; [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.ne.jp/asahi/osaka/100ju/Inutuge.htm&sa=X&oi=translate& google translation])</ref><ref name=osu>Okayama Science University: [http://had0.big.ous.ac.jp/~hada/plantsdic/angiospermae/dicotyledoneae/choripetalae/aquifoliaceae/inutsuge/inutsuge.htm ''Ilex crenata''] (in Japanese; [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://had0.big.ous.ac.jp/~hada/plantsdic/angiospermae/dicotyledoneae/choripetalae/aquifoliaceae/inutsuge/inutsuge.htm&sa=X&oi=translate& google translation])</ref><ref name=rhs>Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.</ref> |
| Ilex crenata, Thunb. (I. fortunei, Hort.). Much- branched shrub, rarely small tree to 20 ft.: lvs. oval, obovate or oblong-lanceolate, crenately serrate, glabrous, ½ - 1 ½ in. long: fls. 4-merous: fr. ¼ in. across, solitary, short-stalked. May, June; fr. in Oct. Japan. Gng. 6:165. F.E. 30:1161. G.M. 46:208. Gn. 64, E413. Gn.M. 4:237. Ilex crenata var. microphylla, Maxim, vs. 1/3 – ½ in. long, elliptic or elliptic-oblong. This variety is somewhat hardier than the type. Ilex crenata var. longifolia, Hort. Lvs. elliptic-oblong to lanceolate. Ilex crenata var. luteo-variegata, Regel (Ilex crenata var.aureo-variegata, Hort.). Lvs. spotted yellow, obovate. M.D.G. 1913:53. | | Ilex crenata, Thunb. (I. fortunei, Hort.). Much- branched shrub, rarely small tree to 20 ft.: lvs. oval, obovate or oblong-lanceolate, crenately serrate, glabrous, ½ - 1 ½ in. long: fls. 4-merous: fr. ¼ in. across, solitary, short-stalked. May, June; fr. in Oct. Japan. Gng. 6:165. F.E. 30:1161. G.M. 46:208. Gn. 64, E413. Gn.M. 4:237. Ilex crenata var. microphylla, Maxim, vs. 1/3 – ½ in. long, elliptic or elliptic-oblong. This variety is somewhat hardier than the type. Ilex crenata var. longifolia, Hort. Lvs. elliptic-oblong to lanceolate. Ilex crenata var. luteo-variegata, Regel (Ilex crenata var.aureo-variegata, Hort.). Lvs. spotted yellow, obovate. M.D.G. 1913:53. |
− | | + | Numerous [[cultivar]]s have been selected, including plants with the leaves [[variegation|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. '[[Charles Maries|Mariesii]]', 'Stokes').<ref name=rhs/> |