Toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia
Family Rosaceae

An evergreen shrub ranging up to 20' and more.
Leaves: Alternate; short petiole; leathery, serrate; to 4" long.
Flowers: Small, white, in terminal panicles. Blooms July/August.
Calyx: Five-toothed; Petals: five; rounded. Stamens: ten, on calyx.
Fruit: berries.
Habitat: Chaparral, oak woodland, mixed-evergreen forest.

Spending most of the year attracting little attention, Toyon takes over for the holiday season. In fact, other names for toyon are Christmas-berry and California holly.

Does toyon really resemble holly? Seen from a distance, the serrate leaves do suggest holly's well-known spiny margins, and the obvious bright clusters of red berries look similar, but a drive along most foothill back roads will give you a chance to see for yourself as you find this common California native growing abundantly. One excellent place to see them would be along Carson Road from Schnell School Road toward Camino. Another is Big Cut Road; start just off the top of Sacramento Hill and drive to Pleasant Valley Road. The toyon are all along the roadside and there are plenty of places to park for a closer look.

You might like to gather some of the berries for decoration, and maybe try to propagate them. According to Growing California Plants: "the seeds germinate readily when fresh, but require three months for stratification when older." If you can get some plants started, you can keep them in small containers for up to a year before planting them in your yard. The flowering begins in the third year. Toyon is drought resistant and favors well-drained soil.

According to The Wildflowers of California: "The berries have a rather pleasant taste, somewhat acid and astringent, and were eaten by the Indians with great relish. The Spanish-Californians used them in the preparation of an agreeable drink."

You may want to see the CalFlora records.

1. Hetero = different; meles = apples
  (fruits like little apples)
  arbuti-folia = leaves
  (leaves like Arbutus, shown right)
2. Growing California Native Plants,
Marjorie G. Schmidt, University of California Press, 1980
3. The Wild Flowers of California,
Mary Elizabeth Parsons, Dover Press reprint, 1966