Holly is an evergreen tree or shrub which has hard, shiny leaves with sharp points, and red berries in winter. Any of approximately 400 species of red-or black-berried ornamental shrubs and trees that make up the genus Ilex (family Aquifoliaceae), including the popular Christmas hollies. English holly (I. aquifolium) bears shiny, spiny, dark, evergreen leaves; American holly (I. opaca) has oblong, prickly leaves; both have usually red fruits. There are spineless and yellow-fruited forms of both species
The European species (Ilex Aquifolium) is best known, having glossy green leaves, with a spiny, waved edge, and bearing berries that turn red or yellow about Michaelmas
Holly grown around a house has long been believed to keep out evil It was also held to protect against the evil eye and storms It was also a protection against witches According to William Henderson's Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties witches hate holly because "its name is but another form of the word holy, and its thorny foliage and blood-red berries are suggestive of the most sacred Christian associations "