# plants (hollies)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plants-hollies/204813>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 1, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plants-hollies/204813 "2003-10-01T00:15:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bliebet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@bliebet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bliebet)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plants-hollies/204813/1 "2003-10-01T00:15:23Z")

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is there any way to tell a holly apart from all other plants?  
any tricks?

for example, all oaks have buds at the terminal ends of their branches…do hollies have a distinguishable characteristic to them?

thanks…i’d really appreciate some help.

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**Author:** ![Bewildebeest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bewildebeest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bewildebeest)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plants-hollies/204813/2 "2003-10-01T02:00:47Z")

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Newbie here so I hope I’ve gotten everything right.

Anyway, the first paragraph of “A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs” by George A. Petrides says:

“Hollies as a group are difficult to identify. No easily apparent characteristic occurs thoughout…”

It doesn’t look good.