Heteromeles arbutifolia - Toyon

Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), also called Christmas berry, is an evergreen shrub to small tree of California chaparral and woodland. Its red winter berries are technically edible but contain cyanogenic compounds, making them an awful, last-resort food that can sicken or kill in quantity. It grows 2-6 m tall and 2-3 m wide.¹

Inputs

• Hardiness zone 7¹
• Hardiness zone 8¹
• Hardiness zone 9¹
• Hardiness zone 10¹
• Full sun¹
• Well drained soil¹

Outputs

• Emergency food¹

Type

• Shrub
• Tree
• Evergreen

Functions

• Fire resistance²
• Drought-tolerance¹
• Attracting beneficial insects¹
• Wildlife habitat¹

Dimension	At maturity
Height (m)	2-6
Diameter (m)	2-3

Footnotes

1. Heteromeles arbutifolia, Toyon | Las Pilitas Nursery Native Plant Database ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

2. Leaf burn times of California native plants, Las Pilitas Nursery, 2005 propane-torch ignition trial, live-leaf ignition time 50 seconds ↩