Holly

Scientific name: Ilex aquifolium

Family: Aquifoliaceae

What3Words location: noting.spark.tent

Origin: native

Maximum height: 15 metres

Lives for: up to 300 years

An evergreen tree with shiny, spiny green leaves, though the leaves of older trees are often smooth. Pagans used holly to decorate their homes in their winter solstice celebrations, linked to its qualities of recovery and goodwill. When the Christian Church failed to ban the custom, they adopted it instead and the foliage is now a festive symbol at Christmas time.