AQUIFOLIACEAE
Morphological description
Non-climbing, woody; stipules absent.
Leaves
Leaves spirally arranged, simple, penninerved, dentate, drying blackish, black glands underneath.
Flowers
Flowers unisexual, sepals and petals 4-9, nearly free, imbricate, stamens isomerous, opposite sepals.
Different from: Celastraceae: disk present; leaves usually opposite. — Icacinaceae: petals valvate, fruit nearly always one-seeded. — Rhamnaceae: stipulate, disk present, stamens opposite petals.
Distribution: World-wide, mainly northern hemisphere. In Malesia 1 genus: - Ilex (world-wide), shrubs, trees, rarely climbers, mainly of montane rain forest.
Notes: Ilex paraguariensis (South America) is used to make mate (tea); I. aquifolium is a European ornamental plant.
Literature: R. Kiew, Tree Fl. Mal. 3 (1978) 1-9. — Ms. S. Andrews (K) is revising the family for Flora Malesiana.
Spot characters (Van Balgooy): Twigs white, petiole black - Wrinkled petiole - Leaves opposite in spiral-leaved families (p.p.) - Leaves verticillate (p.p.) - Leaf margin dentate/ serrate (p.p.) - Leaves bullate (p.p.) - Leaf with domatia - Glands on petiole or lamina (p.p.) - Stigma broad sessile.
Illustrations: Fig. 11. R. Kiew, Tree Fl. Mal. 3 (1978) 1-9.
Image in PhytoImages for Aquifoliaceae.