Dioecious tree of the Holly family - Aquifoliaceae, usually 10 m tall ( It can attain 25 m) . Erect stems with smooth bark, light grey, and bright green branches. Alternate wavy leaves, elliptical or ovate, bright green, ,coriaceous with strong spines ( Specially those near the ground; superior ones sometimes spineless)
Flowers in different trees, the female ones with four petals, white-greenish. Fruits till 12 mm in diameter. They are red berries when mature. Beech and oak woods and hedges of humid climates. It blooms from May -June