The generic name is based on the Latin name for stone oak ( Quercus ilex ). The species epithet belongs to the modern Ilex rotunda [2] .
The leaves are elliptical, 4.5-5 cm long, 1.9-2.5 cm wide, sharp both at the base and at the apex, whole, long-grained. Petiole reaches 6 mm in length. 7 pairs of secondary veins emerge from the middle vein at angles of 45–40 °, camptodromic, tertiary venous mesh or percurrent in intersectoral spaces [2] .
The holotype AKMG-3132, represented by a sheet print, now located at the Akita University Institute of Applied Geology, was discovered in Akita Prefecture, part of Japan . Also, the species is known from the Utto formation [2] .
Based on several prints in 1963, K. Husyoka described a new species of fossil holly , calling it Ilex ohashii, while mistakenly designating two samples as holotype , found in different places [2] .
In 2019, in his work published in 2019, Russian systematic botanist Alexander Borisovich Doweld noticed the mistake of Huzioka and changed the name of the species to Ilex subrotunda [2] .