Ilex macrocarpa Oliv.

Trees deciduous, 5-10(-17) m tall. Branchlets castaneous or gray-brown; lenticels conspicuous, glabrous or pubescent; spur branchlets 4-10 cm. Stipules very minute, often obscure; petiole 1-1.2 cm, adaxially narrowly sulcate, sparsely minutely puberulent; leaf blade abaxially greenish, adaxially deep green, ovate or ovate-elliptic, rarely oblong-elliptic, (3-)4-13(-15) × (2-)4-6 cm, papery, both surfaces glabrous or sparsely and minutely puberulent when young, or pubescent, midvein abaxially raised, glabrous or sometimes sparsely and minutely puberulent, adaxially flat or impressed, sparsely and minutely puberulent or glabrous, lateral veins 8-10 pairs, raised abaxially, flat or slightly raised adaxially, anastomosing near margin, reticulate veins evident on both surfaces, base rounded or obtuse, margin shallowly serrate, apex acuminate to shortly acuminate. Male inflorescences: cymes of order 1-3, 1-5-flowered, solitary or fasciculate, axillary on first to second year’s branchlets; peduncles 2-3 mm; pedicels 3-7 mm, glabrous or pubescent; flowers white, 5- or 6-merous; calyx patelliform, shallowly 5- or 6-lobed, lobes deltoid-ovate, ciliate; corolla ca. 7 mm in diam., petals obovate-oblong, ca. 3 × 1.5-2 mm, basally slightly connate; stamens ca. as long as petals, anthers oblong; rudimentary ovary pulvinate, apex slightly retuse. Female inflorescences: 1-flowered cymes, solitary, axillary on leaves or scales; pedicels 6-18 mm, glabrous or pubescent; bracteoles 2, basal; flowers 7-9-merous; calyx ca. 5 mm in diam., shallowly 7-9-lobed, lobes ovate-deltoid, apex obtuse or rounded, ciliate; corolla 1-1.2 cm in diam.; staminodes ca. 2/3 as long as petals, sterile anthers sagittate, apex obtuse; ovary conical-ovoid, base ca. 3 mm in diam., style present, stigma columnar, glabrous. Fruit black, globose, 1-1.4 cm in diam.; fruiting pedicel 1-3.3 cm; persistent calyx explanate; persistent stigma columnar; pyrenes 7-9, oblong, laterally compressed, abaxially 3-striate, 2-sulcate, laterally reticulately striate and sulcate, endocarp stony. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Oct-Nov.

Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang.

● Forests, mountains, valleys, roadsides; 400-4500 m.

Ilex macrocarpa is a species of flowering plant in the holly family Aquifoliaceae, native to central and southern China, and Vietnam. A deciduous tree typically 5 to 10 m (16 to 33 ft) tall, it is found in a wide variety of temperate habitats, including roadsides, from 400 to 4,500 m (1,300 to 14,800 ft) above sea level. It differs from other hollies by its large black fruit. It is used as a street tree in Hefei, China.