In search of a holly in white

There is something captivating about a white-berried holly and while it is widely believed that the last of it was destroyed in Tyrone in the 1960s, the search continues, writes FIONNULA FALLON

I WISH I COULD tell you that this was, really and truly, a photograph of the elusive, mysterious white-berried Irish holly mentioned by many of the noted garden writers and botanists of the 17th, 18th, 19th and even the early 20th century, including John Evelyn, John Claudius Loudon, Augustine Henry, von Schelle and William Dallimore . . .

But of course it’s not.

The sad fact is that as far as anyone knows, the last white-berried Ilex aquifolium growing in Ireland (or indeed anywhere else in the western world) was inadvertently destroyed in a fire in Co Tyrone sometime in the mid-1960s and long before anyone had the chance to propagate new plants from it.

It’s a fascinating story that the Dublin-born horticultural taxonomist, National Botanic Gardens graduate and internationally recognised holly expert, Susyn Andrews, first touched on in an article that she wrote in 1982 for volume one of Moorea, the quarterly newsletter of the Irish Garden Plant Society. Andrew’s initial interest in the complicated but fascinating holly genus had been sparked by a suggestion from no less a personage than the British horticulturist, broadcaster and former curator of the famous Hillier arboretum in Hampshire, Roy Lancaster.

“It was shortly after I’d left my job at Hillier’s and briefly returned home to Ireland that Roy mentioned to me that the holly collection in the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin was, taxonomically speaking, in a bit of a muddle – a lot of the plants were mislabelled or not labelled at all and needed to be properly identified. I found the job completely absorbing,” says Andrews, describing how she spent the next few months “crawling around every holly tree in Glasnevin”.

It was during her subsequent in-depth research into the holly genus that Andrews first discovered the various historical references to “the legendary white-berried holly” – among them, Dallimore’s references to a plant he called Ilex aquifolium “Fructu-albo” but which Von Schelle called Ilex aquifolium var leucocarpa (both terms, “Fructu-albo” and leucocarpa, are descriptive of white berries).

Utterly intrigued, Susyn Andrews then placed an advertisement in several horticultural trade journals in 1977, requesting information on old Ilex cultivars including the white-berried holly. Among the various replies she received that year was the following, from an RH Park . . . “There was a white-berried holly growing in the wild in the Dungannon area of Co Tyrone . . . it was destroyed in a bush fire about 10 years ago. It came to our notice by reports of white-berried holly being sold in the shops at Christmas. At the time we tried to find the tree, however it had been destroyed before we got to it.”

And that, or so it seems, was that.

Thirty-three years later, while she laughingly describes the search for the horticultural curiosity that is the white-berried holly as being rather like the hunt for the black rose or the yellow snowdrop, Susyn Andrews is still hopeful that someone may rediscover this elusive plant growing in the wild.

“God knows . . . Over the years we’ve had plenty of people sending us in photographs of pale-yellow holly berries, which are the berries of the common, yellow-fruiting holly before it’s fully ripened, But no true white or cream-berried plants so far,” says Andrews, who went on to work as a taxonomist for the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew and spent many years researching the entire Ilex genus, which contains somewhere between 500-700 species. Now an independent taxonomic consultant, she’s adviser to the Holly Society of America and is on the RHS advisory panel on nomenclature and taxonomy.

Back here in Ireland, the search for the white-berried holly continues, as I discovered by chance when I spoke to Seamus O’Brien, the well-known Irish gardener in charge of Kilmacurragh gardens in Co Wicklow.

“I’m constantly on the lookout for white-berried hollies here in Wicklow, having read Susyn Andrew’s original article, but have never came across anything even close,” he says.

As to what the commercial value of such a white-berried Ilex aquifolium would be if it

were to be rediscovered, Pat Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Nurseries (fitzgerald-nurseries.com) in Kilkenny says that “from a horticultural perspective, I wouldn’t have any doubt about it selling, although a lot would depend on how prolific a berrier it is. The other thing to keep in mind is the fact that white-berried or white-flowered plants generally don’t sell as well as those that are brightly coloured. My gut feeling is that a white-berried holly wouldn’t be as popular with the public as the traditional red-berried form”.

But I wonder . . .

In Kevin Danaher's book, A Year In Ireland(published in 1972 but sadly long out of print), he describes how, at Christmas time, "holly with berries was especially prized, as were long fronds of ivy which might be used as garlands. Some children were given starch or whiting by their mothers, with which they whitened the ivy berries for added gaiety".

Having personally whitened the blood-red berries of a sprig of the native Ilex aquifolium for the accompanying photograph (rather crudely, using children’s face paint), I can vouch for the fact that there is something strangely captivating about a white-berried holly.

And who knows? Perhaps a stray seedling has survived unnoticed and, in some secret corner of Ireland, a white-berried holly is at this very moment giving a luminously beautiful seasonal display. So keep your eyes peeled . . . And if you do happen to find such a plant, then you know the lady to call.