''Heteromeles arbutifolia'' (; more commonly by Californian botanists), commonly known as toyon, is a common

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

native to extreme southwest

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and the Baja California Peninsula. It is the sole species in the genus ''Heteromeles''. Toyon is a prominent component of the

coastal sage scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is w ...

plant community, and is a part of drought-adapted

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

and mixed

oak woodland An oak woodland is a plant community with a tree canopy dominated by oaks (''Quercus spp.''). In terms of canopy closure, oak woodlands are intermediate between oak savanna, which is more open, and oak forest, which is more closed. Although the ...

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s. It is also known by the common names Christmas berry and California holly.

Description

Toyon typically grows from 2–5 m (rarely up to 10 m in shaded conditions) and has a rounded to irregular top. Its

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

, alternate, sharply toothed, have short petioles, and are 5–10 cm in length and 2–4 cm wide. In the early summer it produces small white

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s 6–10 mm diameter in dense terminal

corymb Corymb is a botanical term for an inflorescence with the flowers growing in such a fashion that the outermost are borne on longer pedicels than the inner, bringing all flowers up to a common level. A corymb has a flattish top with a superficial re ...

s. Flowering peaks in June. The five

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s are rounded. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is a small

pome In botany, a pome is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subtribe Malinae of the family Rosaceae. Well-known pomes include the apple, pear, and quince. Etymology The word ''pome'' entered English in the late 14th century, and re ...

, 5–10 mm across, bright red and berry-like, produced in large quantities, maturing in the fall and persisting well into the winter. File:Heteromeles arbutifolia 03.jpg, Plant fruiting on

Mount Diablo Mount Diablo is a mountain of the Diablo Range, in Contra Costa County, California, Contra Costa County of the eastern San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. It is south of Clayton, California, Clayton and northeast of Danville, Califo ...

, Contra Costa County, California. File:Heteromeles arbutifolia 2.jpg, Leaves File:2015-07-04-13.00.05 ZS PMax Heteromeles arbutifolia-1 (19232153488).jpg, Flowers File:TOYON (heteromeles arbutifolia) (3-24-07) canet (535371030).jpg, Fruit File:Heteromeles arbutifolia 02.jpg, In habitat Miwok Trail in the Los Vaqueros Watershed of the Los Vaqueros Reservoir, a park in Contra Costa County, California.

Phytochemistry

The plant has been used as a treatment for

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

indigenous people of California The indigenous peoples of California (known as Native Californians) are the indigenous inhabitants who have lived or currently live in the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and after the arrival of Europeans. ...

and recent research has found a number of active compounds that are potentially beneficial to Alzheimer's treatment. These include icaricide compounds, which protect the blood-brain barrier and prevent infiltration of inflammatory cells into the brain.

Taxonomy

The genera ''

Photinia ''Photinia'' () is a genus of about 30 species of small trees and large shrubs, but the taxonomy has recently varied greatly, with the genera ''Heteromeles'', ''Stranvaesia'' and ''Aronia'' sometimes included in ''Photinia''. They are a part of ...

'', ''

Aronia ''Aronia'' is a genus of deciduous shrubs, the chokeberries, in the family Rosaceae native to eastern North America and most commonly found in wet woods and swamps. The genus Aronia is considered to have 3 species. The most common and wide ...

'', ''

Pourthiaea ''Pourthiaea'' is a genus of plants in the rose family (Rosaceae). Its native range is East Asia and Indo-China. It is found in the regions of Assam, Bangladesh, (north-central, south-central and southeastern) China, East Himalaya, Japan, Korea, ...

'', and ''

Stranvaesia ''Stranvaesia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae. Its morphology is so similar to ''Photinia'' that it has sometimes been included within that genus, but recent molecular data indicate that the two genera are not related. Sp ...

'' have historically been variously combined by different taxonomists. The genus ''Heteromeles'' as originally published by

Max Joseph Roemer Max Joseph Roemer (1791–1849) was a German botanist who worked in Weimar. Roemer served as ''Landrichter'' (country judge) in the Bavarian town of Aub before working as a private scientist in Würzburg. and is the taxonomic authority of the gene ...

was

monospecific In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

, including ''Photinia arbutifolia'' Lindl. (1820), as ''H. arbutifolia'' (Lindl.) M. Roem, but the name was

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

(superfluous) because it included the type of the genus ''Photinia''. This has since been corrected by

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

, and the name is therefore often written as ''Heteromeles'' M. Roem. ''nom. cons.'' (1847).

Varieties

* ''Heteromeles arbutifolia'' var. ''arbutifolia'' (Lindl.) M.Roem. –

Autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

* ''Heteromeles arbutifolia'' var. ''cerina'' (Jeps.) A.E.Murray – Representative of the yellow fruiting specimens of the plant. Sporadic in distribution, and not accepted by most taxonomical authorities. * ''Heteromeles arbutifolia'' var. ''macrocarpa'' (Munz) Munz (Island Christmas berry or island toyon) – A very rare insular variety limited to the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway betwee ...

and Santa Catalina and the Mexican Pacific island of Guadalupe. Characterized by shorter, broader, significantly larger leaves with revolute margins and little teeth, and floriferous inflorescences with larger fruits (8 to 10 mm). It is more susceptible to fungal infections of Spilocaea than the common toyon.

Toxicity

Toyon pomes are

acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

ic and

astringent An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin ''adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Calamine lotion, witch hazel, and yerba mansa, a Californian plant ...

, and contain a small amount of cyanogenic

glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

s, which break down into

hydrocyanic acid Hydrogen cyanide, sometimes called prussic acid, is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structure . It is a colorless, extremely poisonous, and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on an ind ...

on digestion. This is removed by mild cooking. Most fruits from plants in the family Rosaceae, including apples, apricots, peaches, cherries, and plums, contain cyanide. Some pomes, though mealy, astringent and acid when raw, were eaten fresh, or mashed into water to make a beverage. A 2016 study found 5g of the dried berries (used as a treatment for Alzheimer's) to be safe. The study also found no cyanogenic compounds in the plant.

Uses

J20151125-0008—Heteromeles arbutifolia (23303059776)

The pomes provided food for local Native American tribes, such as the

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California See also * Chumash traditional ...

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historically ...

, and

Tataviam The Tataviam (Kitanemuk: ''people on the south slope'') are a Native American group in Southern California. The ancestral land of the Tataviam people includes northwest present-day Los Angeles County and southern Ventura County, primarily in th ...

. The pomes also can be made into a jelly. Native Americans also made a tea from the leaves as a stomach remedy. Most were dried and stored, then later cooked into porridge or pancakes. Later settlers added sugar to make

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fro ...

and

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

. The plants were also often cooked over a fire to remove the slightly bitter taste by Californian tribes. The Tongva (who called the plant ''ashuwet'') ate the berries fresh, boiled and left them in an earthen oven for 2 to 3 days, roasted them, or made them into a cider. Pulverized flowers were steeped into hot water to make tea which could be used to ease gynecological ailments. For stomach pains, bark and leaves are steeped in hot water to make tea. The same tea can serve as a seasonal tonic and ease other body pains. Also, applying mashed ''ashuwet'' to sores eases pain. Infected wounds are washed using an infusion of bark and leaves. The ʔívil̃uqaletem also called the plant ''ashwet''. They often consumed the fruit both raw and cooked.

Cultivation

Toyon can be grown in domestic gardens in well-drained soil, and is cultivated as an ornamental plant as far north as Southern England. It can survive temperatures as low as -12 °C. In winter, the bright red pomes (which birds often eat voraciously) are showy. Like many other genera in the

Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. Among the most species-rich genera are ''Alchemilla'' (270), ''Sorbus ...

tribe

Maleae The Maleae (incorrectly Pyreae) are the apple tribe in the rose family, Rosaceae. The group includes a number of plants bearing commercially important fruits, such as apples and pears, while others are cultivated as ornamentals. Older taxonomies ...

, toyon includes some cultivars that are susceptible to

fireblight Fire blight, also written fireblight, is a contagious disease affecting apples, pears, and some other members of the family Rosaceae. It is a serious concern to apple and pear producers. Under optimal conditions, it can destroy an entire orchard ...

. It survives on little water, making it suitable for xeriscape gardening, and is less of a fire hazard than some chaparral plants. They are visited by

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

, and have a mild,

hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

-like scent. The fruit are consumed by

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s, including

mockingbird Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the family Mimidae. They are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession. ...

American robin The American robin (''Turdus migratorius'') is a migratory bird of the true thrush genus and Turdidae, the wider thrush family. It is named after the European robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closel ...

cedar waxwing The cedar waxwing (''Bombycilla cedrorum'') is a member of the family Bombycillidae or waxwing family of passerine birds. It is a medium-sized, mostly brown, gray, and yellow. This bird is named for its wax-like wing tips. It is a native of Nort ...

s and

hermit thrush The hermit thrush (''Catharus guttatus'') is a medium-sized North American thrush. It is not very closely related to the other North American migrant species of ''Catharus'', but rather to the Mexican russet nightingale-thrush. The specific na ...

es.

Mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s including

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

s and

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

s also eat and disperse the pomes.

Culture

In the 1920s, collecting toyon branches for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

became so popular in Los Angeles that the State of

passed a law forbidding collecting on public land or on any land not owned by the person picking any plant without the landowner's written permission (CA Penal Code § 384a). Toyon was adopted as the official native plant of the city of Los Angeles by the LA City Council on April 17, 2012.

References

External links

*
C. Michael Hogan (2008) ''Toyon: Heteromeles arbutifolia'', iGoTerra.com

University of Michigan: Dearborn—Native American Ethnobotany (''Heteromeles arbutifolia'')

Los Angeles City Clerk—Council Files: Toyon

CalFlora database: ''Heteromeles arbutifolia''

The Living Wild Project: Toyon

USDA Plants Profile for ''Heteromeles arbutifolia'' (toyon)

''Heteromeles arbutifolia''—U.C. Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2655434, from2=Q21546397 Bird food plants Drought-tolerant plants Flora of Baja California Flora of Baja California Sur Flora of California Flora of Oregon Flora of Mexican Pacific Islands Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Garden plants of North America Maleae Monotypic Rosaceae genera Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Plants used in traditional Native American medicine