Ilicineae
A small natural order of trees or shrubs, of which the common Holly, Ilex Aquifolium, is the type. Flowers white, often small; inflorescence axillary and terminal, cymose. Leaves alternate; stipules minute or absent, petiolate, simple, generally coriaceous, often entire. The species inhabit temperate and tropical regions, but are absent from North-west America. They contain a bitter principle, the Ilicine of chemists, combined in various proportions with an aromatic resin and a glutinous matter, to which some species of Holly owe medicinal properties. There are about 150 species, and the following genera: Byronia, Ilex, and Nemopanthes. The order is sometimes known as Aquifoliaceae.