Toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia

About Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) 103 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) is a beautiful perennial shrub native throughout the western part of California and the Sierra foothills. It is a prominent component of the coastal sage scrub plant community, and is a part of drought-adapted chaparral and mixed oak woodland habitats. It is also known by the common names Christmas berry and California Holly from the bright red berries it produces. The city of Hollywood was named for this plant.

It often grows to about 8 feet tall, but some spectacular specimens in the Los Padres National Forest are over 30 feet tall. Its leaves are evergreen, alternate, sharply toothed, and are 5 cm in length and 2 cm wide.

In early summer, it produces small white flowers 6mm diameter in dense bunches. The five petals are rounded. The fruit is small, bright red and berry-like, produced in large quantities, maturing in the fall and persisting well into winter. The flowers are visited by butterflies and other insects; they have a mild, hawthorn-like scent. The berries are consumed by birds, including mockingbirds, American robins, and cedar waxwings. Mammals including coyotes and bears also eat and disperse the berries.

Toyon berries are acidic and astringent, and contain a small amount of cyanogenic glycosides, which break down into hydrocyanic acid on digestion. This is removed by mild cooking. Raw berries are mealy, astringent and acid, though were eaten fresh, or mashed into water to make a beverage by Native Americans.

Toyon are beautiful plants and easy to grow. If properly situated, they can grow very quickly, up to 10 feet in three years. They like sun or part shade, though they tend to do better in part shade in the southern, drier part of their geographic range. They can handle a wide variety of soils, including clay, sand and serpentine, but need more moisture than most chaparral shrubs. They do well near seasonal creeks, seeps, bottom of slopes, or near irrigated areas. These plants tolerate a fair amount of summer water, up to 1x per week if the drainage is good. They are an excellent hedge plant.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Shrub

Size

6 - 30 ft tall
10 - 15 ft wide

Form

Rounded

Growth Rate

Fast, Moderate

Dormancy

Evergreen

Fragrance

Slight

Flower Color

White

Flowering Season

Summer

Wildlife Supported

Bees are attracted to the flowers. Birds love the berries
Bird gardens

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 4 confirmed

, 4 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Pacific Azure Celastrina echoCelastrina echo

Destructive Pruneworm Moth Acrobasis tricolorellaAcrobasis tricolorella

Western Avocado Leafroller Moth Amorbia cuneanaAmorbia cuneana

Holcocera iceryaeellaHolcocera iceryaeella

Orange Tortrix Moth Argyrotaenia franciscanaArgyrotaenia franciscana

Nemoria leptaleaNemoria leptalea

Acronicta perditaAcronicta perdita

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun, Part Shade

Moisture

Extremely Low, Very Low

Summer Irrigation

Max 2x / month once established, Never irrigate once established

Nurseries

Carried by 103

Ease of Care

Very Easy

Cold Tolerance

Tolerates cold to -5° F

Soil Drainage

Fast, Medium, Slow

Soil Description

Tolerant of a variety of soils. Tolerates Serpentine Soil. Soil PH: 5.0 - 8.0

Common uses

Bank Stabilization, Hedges, Deer Resistant, Bird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens

Companion Plants

Lemonadeberry (Rhus integrifolia), Manzanita (Arctostaphylos species), Ceanothus species, Milkweed (Asclepias species), Giant Wild Rye (Elymus condensatus), Sand Aster (Corethrogyne filaginifolia), Sagebrush (Artemisia californica), Monkeyflower (Mimulus species), Encelia californica, Buckwheat (Eriogonum species), Heartleaf Keckiella (Keckiella cordifolia), Penstemon species, Salvia species, Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum)

Maintenance

Susceptible to fireblight. If it becomes leggy, you can cut it to the ground and it will regrow from the base.

Propagation?

For propagating by seed: Fresh seeds need no treatment; stored seed 3 mos. stratification.

Sunset Zones?

5, 7*, 8, 9, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Natural Setting

Site Type

Toyon is a common plant in chaparral and is found along creeksides, bottoms of slopes, north-facing slopes, and canyons.

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 7.0" - 128.0", Summer Precipitation: 0.13" - 3.90", Coldest Month: 33.5" - 57.4", Hottest Month: 53.5" - 80.4", Humidity: 0.22" - 27.39", Elevation: 0" - 7419"

Alternative Names

Common Names: California Holly, Christmas Berry

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Toyon

Heteromeles arbutifolia

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ToyonHeteromeles arbutifolia

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Toyon

Heteromeles arbutifolia