モチノキ科モチノキ属の常緑小高木で、学名は Ilex crenata。英名は Japanese holly。
The Japanese holly (Ilex crenata) belongs to Aquifoliaceae (the Holly family). It is a semi-tall evergreen tree that is native from Honshu west to Shikoku and Kyushu in Japan, as well as the southern Korean Peninsula. This tree is usually a small tree, rarely it can reach about 15 m in height. It is also tolerant severe pruning, and used as a topiary (trees molded into three dimensional forms). The leaves are alternate, elliptic to oblong with several low toothed edges. The pale yellowish-white flowers bloom in the axils of new branches from June to July. The fruits are globose drupes and ripen black. The Japanese common name is derived from "inu" (inferior) + "tsuge" (Japanese boxwood). Photos 14th, 17th-18th, and 21st-22nd show a gall "Inutsuge-metamafushi", an insect fly created by Inutsuge-tamabae.