Common holly, Acebo

It is an evergreen tree growing to 10–25 m tall with smooth grey bark. The leaves are 5–12 cm long and 2–6 cm broad, variable in shape; on young plants and low branches, with three to five sharp spines on each side, pointing alternately upward and downward; on higher branches of older trees with few or no spines except for the leaf tip, often entire. It is a tertiary laurel forest relict species, when the european climate was cooler and wetter. It grows in full sun in northern regions. The flowers are dioecious, white, four-lobed, and pollinated by bees. The fruit is a red drupe 6–10 mm diameter, containing four pits; although mature in late autumn, they are very bitter due to the ilicin content, and so are rarely touched by birds until late winter after frost has made them softer and more palatable.