The plant paired with ivy in the carol “The Holly and the Ivy” is holly. The opening line names both plants, while the verses repeatedly contrast holly’s blossom, berry, prickle, and bark with Christian images of Jesus’s birth and mission.
This is a traditional British folk carol whose words can be traced to the early nineteenth century. The familiar form was collected in 1909 by folk-song collector Cecil Sharp from Mary Clayton in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, and published in Sharp’s English Folk-Carols in 1911.
The song has older relatives and many textual and musical variants, including carols centered on “The Holly Bears a Berry.” Holly and ivy were both important winter greenery in Britain, but the standard carol specifically pairs holly with ivy—not mistletoe, laurel, or rosemary. In common Christian interpretation, holly represents Jesus, while ivy is associated with the Virgin Mary.