From California Natives Wiki
Species Name: Heteromeles arbutifolia
Common Name: Toyon
- Beautiful red berries attract many songbirds in winter. Recommended as privacy screen. Takes pruning well, but flowers only on second year growth. Hollywood was named for this plant, which used to cover the hillsides there.
- Plant Family: Rosaceae
- Plant Type: Shrub
- Height by Width: 8-15' H x 10-15' W
- Growth Habit: Large shrub or small tree
- Deciduous/Evergreen: Evergreen
- Growth Rate: Fast
- Sun Exposure: Full to part sun
- Soil Preference: Adaptable
- Water Requirements: Drought-tolerant to moderate
- Cold Hardy to: 25 degrees F
- Flower Season: Summer
- Flower Color: White
- Endangered?: Not listed
- Distribution: California Floristic Province, and into Baja, CA
- Natural Habitat: Chaparral, oak woodland, mixed evergreen forest, below 3,900'
- Care and Maintenance
- Introduced into cultivation in California by Theodore Payne.
- From California Native Plants, Theodore Payne's 1941 catalog: "One of the most beautiful and useful of the native shrubs. Desirable the year round for its handsome foliage: in the spring and early summer for its large clusters of white flowers and in the fall and winter for its attractive red berries. Planted as single specimens or in groups it is a cheerful object the year round. Easy to grow, will thrive with very little water if necessary and will stand ordinary garden culture quite well. Can also be grown into tree form and makes an excellent small tree for parkway planting. Also known as Christmas berry."
- Other Names
- Bornstein, Carol, David Fross, and Bart O'Brien. California Native Plants for the Garden. Los Olivos, CA: Cachuma Press. 2005.
- Harlow, Nora and Kristin Jakob. Wild Lilies, Irises, and Grasses: Gardening with California Monocots. Berkely and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press. 2003.