Ilex aquifolium L.

Spice Flower detail In the field 1 In the field 2

Family: AQUIFOLIACEAE

Genus: Ilex

Catalan common name: Arbre de mal fruit. Arbre de visc. Coscoll de vesc. Grèvol.

Spanish common name: Acebo.

Province distribution: Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Lleida. Tarragona.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca.

General distribution (Phytogeography): South Mediterranean

Uses and properties: Furniture, construction and tools. Medicinal.

Plants protected by law: Balearic Catalogue.

IUCN Category: ENEndangered

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Macrophanerophyte.

Habitats: Rock crevices and cliff faces. Rock creviceses.

Characteristics: This bush only lives in the shady spots of the upper ranges of the Mallorquin Tramuntana. Actually this species is more typical of a more wet and cold climate than ours. Can ber recognized by its sclerophilic leaves, slightly larger than those of the evergreen oak, often with small spines along the margins. I the continental forests the leaves of this species are deeply ondulated, but in Mallorca this character cannot be observed, and it is not as prikly as well, and for these motives it was considered in other times as an endemic species (Ilex balearica). Flowers are small and white, but the most tell-tale charcateristic is the fruit, a red berry which people of many countries use for christmas decorations. Flowers at the end of spring.