Creature Feature: Toyon

Toyon is perhaps the most festive native plant for the Holidays in Southern California.

Just in time for the holiday season, this month's creature feature is one of our most festive native plants: Toyon... AKA California holly, AKA Christmas berry, AKA Hollywood plant.

First off, Toyon is not a holly. And Hollywood was not named after it. These bushy trees are related to apples and roses, and they grow mostly on the coastal slopes in California. Around this time of year, their berries ripen into a beautiful display enjoyed by many.

Toyon is so festive that in the 1920s, folks in Los Angeles and San Francisco took notice. They started decking their halls with boughs of Toyon, and before long, the Los Gatos Star, Oakland Tribune, and other newspapers were publishing stories on the mass destruction of toyons across the state:

“Hundreds of acres of the shrubs are carefully harvested by wholesale florists each year…They are shipped to our cities by the carload, but that is not sufficient. Thousands upon thousands of people go out into the hills and gather the wild red berries for their own use…Due to the ruthless methods of the hordes who gather these berries each year, these trees are being annihilated."

The Toyon's berries “prove almost irresistible to the crowds of hikers and automobilists who have well nigh exterminated the bushes in certain localities”

Newspapers have always been a bit dramatic. But the destruction was real. After significant grassroots action from biologists, bird-lovers, and nature supporters, a state law was passed in 1927 to protect Toyons everywhere. Several so-called "toyon rustlers" were even arrested.

Toyons can live for more than a hundred years, so some of the trees protected in 1927 may still be alive and well. Today, toyon is the official plant of Los Angeles, but it's equally appreciated here in San Diego, especially by the birds who devour its berries.