Holly

Japanese: holly

…An evergreen shrub of the Ilex family with stiff, sharply toothed leaves and red berries, used as a Christmas decoration. It can reach a height of 6 m, and is highly branched into a pyramidal shape. Young shoots are hairless. The leaves are alternate on short stalks, oblong-ovate, 4-8 cm long, with wavy edges and several sharp triangular teeth, but the older the tree, the fewer the number. Male and female flowers are on separate plants, and bloom in clusters in the axils of the previous year's branches in May and June. The flowers are small and white, with 4-5 sepals and petals, stamens in the male flowers, and pistils and degenerated stamens in the female flowers. …

From [Ilex]

...In spring and summer, the bark is peeled off, soaked in water to rot, and then pounded in a mortar to obtain a rubbery substance. Most species of Ilex (English name: holly) contain this ingredient, but the one from Ilex is called honmochi, and is distinguished from the blue mochi from holly and boxwood. Wakayama, Mie, and Nara prefectures are the main production areas. ...

*Some of the terminology that mentions "holly" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…モチノキ科の常緑低木で，鋭くとがった歯牙のある硬い葉と赤い実をクリスマスの飾りとする。ときに高さ6mに達し，よく枝分れしてピラミッド形の樹形となる。若枝は無毛。葉は短い柄で互生し，長楕円状卵形，長さ4～8cm，縁は波打ち数個の鋭くとがる三角形の歯牙があるが，老樹ほどそれが少なくなる。雌雄の花は別株につき，5～6月，前年の枝の葉腋（ようえき）に房状に咲く。花は小さくて白く，4～5個の萼片，花片と，雄花ではおしべ，雌花ではめしべと退化雄蕊（ゆうずい）がある。…