Ilex canariensis

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Campanulids
Ordo: Aquifoliales

Familia: Aquifoliaceae
Genus: Ilex
Species: Ilex canariensis
Subspecies: I. c. subsp. azevinho – I. c. subsp. canariensis
Name

Ilex canariensis Poir., 1813
References

Poiret, J.L.M., 1813- Encycl. suppl. 3:67.

Links

International Plant Names Index. 2018. Ilex canariensis. Published online. Accessed: Oct. 26 2018.
Hassler, M. 2018. Ilex canariensis. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2018. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2018 Oct. 26. Reference page.
The Plant List 2013. Ilex canariensis in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published online. Accessed: 2018 Oct. 26.
Tropicos.org 2018. Ilex canariensis. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 26 Oct. 2018.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Ilex canariensis in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 08-Apr-12.

Vernacular names

Ilex canariensis, the small-leaved holly, is an endemic species of holly native to Macaronesian islands. It is a species of plant in the family Aquifoliaceae. It is found in the Macaronesian islands of Madeira (Portugal) and Canary Islands (Spain).
Description

This species is known as acebiño in Spanish and azevinho in Portuguese. It is a shrub or small tree up to 6.5 meters tall sometimes 10 m high, evergreen, with a gray trunk. It has glossy ovate leaves, 5–7 cm long by and 2.5–4 cm wide, usually whole rounded edges in the leaves and only a few small spines; iota obtuse or rounded. The leaves have ovate to ovate to lanceolate, bright and whole. The young leaves can be as thorny.

The flowers are small, clustered in axillary inflorescences. The flowers are having four to six white petals, the flowers are located in subterminal leaf axils. It blooms from May to June. The fruits are globular and red holly. Fruits spherical, about 1 cm wide, fleshy, red and located on stems of 3–8 mm long. There are two subspecies. In the ssp. azevinho (Sol. ex Lowe, Kunkel) the berries may reach 2 cm.
Ecology

Ilex canariensis is a plant in the family Aquifoliaceae related to European holly, endemic to Madeira and the Canary Islands. It has two subspecies both of them having the trunk clear with white and brown spots. It reproduces by seeds and shoots. Ilex canariensis needs high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperature.

It is threatened by habitat loss. The species is found mainly at lower altitudes in scrub and laurisilva where moisture in the air condenses or at the bottom of the ravines or near wet areas. Laurisilva may be increasing in Madeira, but throughout much of the range there are pressures, particularly from sheep and goats grazing and fires. This endemism has lost almost all the spines present on the edge of the leaves of the European holly, certainly due to the lack of pressure from herbivores that did not exist in these islands until the introduction of cattle by humans.

The Laurel forest of Laurisilva is a subtropical forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. The macaronesian laurissilva is an endemic ecoregion from Macaronesia with many endemic laurifolia trees of what Ilex canariensis is one of them, endemic to the island of Madeira and the Canary Islands.
References

Beech, E.; Fernandes, F.; da Silva Menezes de Sequeira, M.P. (2017). "Ilex canariensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T38394A102000874. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T38394A102000874.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.