 The first mention, under the name "hihiragi", is in connection with the name of a kami, "Hihiragi-no-sono-hana-madzumi-no-kami" (translated by Chamberlain as ""Deity Waiting-to-see-the-Flowers-of-the-Holly""), with the word "madzumi" ("rarely seen") being used to describe the plant's characteristic of its flowers rarely blossoming, as interpreted by the scholar Tominobu.Its second mention occurs during a passage referring to how a holly wood spear, made of material from the tree and spanning "eight fathoms long", was presented to the Prince Yamato-take by the Emperor prior to him being sent to subdue the East.Its prickly and non-prickly variations are sometimes described as "male" and "female" respectively, though this does not have a relation to the plant's gender.