One of my very favourite Basho haikus! I believe this translation is by the great R.H. Blyth. The shrub in the photo is a native holly, Ilex verticillata, known as winter holly. Its leaves are not evergreen, and look nothing like the holly we typically think of, but it is in the same genus, and it does have red berries that provide great colour in the winter woods. It prefers to grow in damp sites, such as at edges of ponds, streams, wetlands.
To see others remembering Maire in song, poem and proverb: http://forum.pbase.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=47823&sid=43007bc7bde6f9b742565e0da91d6967
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