Chapter 69: Holly Wands

A holly wand is any wand that is crafted out of wood from a holly tree. More specifically, a holly wand is any wand that has a holly shaft, a holly handle, or both.

Holly Trees

Holly trees have many folk names including Aquifolius, Bat's Wings, Christ's Thorn, Holy Tree, Holm Chaste, Hulm, Hulver Bush, Mountain holly, and Tinne.

While the term holly technically refers to any of several hundred species of the genus Ilex, the term is commonly restricted to only a small number of evergreen trees with simple, shiny dark green leaves with sharp pointy edges and bright red berry-like fruits that ripen in winter. Branches of holly are often used as Winter Solstice and Christmas decorations. European wand makers typically use wood from the English holly, while American and Canadian wand makers sometime substitute wood from the very similar American holly.