'''''Ilex''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|aɪ|l|ɛ|k|s}}), or '''holly''',<ref>{{cite book |title=Sunset Western Garden Book |year=1995 |pages=606–07}}</ref> is a [[genus]] of over 570 species of flowering plants in the [[family (biology)|family]] '''Aquifoliaceae''', and the only living genus in that family.<ref>{{cite web |url=httphttps://plantsoftheworldonlinepowo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:60437220-2 |title=''Ilex'' Tourn. ex L. |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |date=2021 |access-date=5 September 2021}}</ref> ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Chloroplast genome structure in ''Ilex'' (Aquifoliaceae) |year=2016 |last1=Yao |first1=Xin |last2=Tan |first2=Yun-Hong |last3=Liu |first3=Ying-Ying |last4=Song |first4=Yu |last5=Yang |first5=Jun-Bo |last6=Corlett |first6=Richard T. |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |volume=6 |page=28559 |doi=10.1038/srep28559 |pmid=27378489 |pmc=4932625 |bibcode=2016NatSR...628559Y}}</ref> The species are [[evergreen]] or [[deciduous]] trees, shrubs, and climbers from tropics to temperate zones worldwide. The [[type species]] is ''[[Ilex aquifolium]]'', the common European holly used in [[Christmas]] decorations and cards.
