Heteromeles |
Heteromeles arbutifolia |
|
---|---|---|
Christmas berry, toyon |
California holly, Christmas berry, toyon |
|
Habit | Shrubs or trees, canopies dense, 20–100 dm. | |
Stems | usually 1; bark (trunk) grayish, with fine tan to dark gray striations, ± smooth; short shoots absent; unarmed; young stems puberulent. |
|
Leaves | persistent, cauline, simple; stipules variably persistent, free, minute, margins unknown, apex gland-tipped; petiole present; blade ± elliptic to narrowly elliptic or narrowly oblong, 5–15(–20) cm, leathery, margins revolute, sharply, remotely serrate, venation pinnate (craspedodromous-brochidodromous), surfaces tomentose when young, glabrescent. |
petiole 1–2 cm, tomentose; blade margins cartilaginous, veins 10–20 per side. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 20–150-flowered, panicles, ± dome-shaped, white-tomentose; bracts present on proximal nodes, leaflike, plus numerous, scalelike appendages on axes; bracteoles present caducous, delicate. |
bracts persistent, 1–3; appendages persistent, hard; bracteoles subulate, 4–10 mm, chartaceous, margins ± revolute, teeth hard, gland-tipped, abaxial surfaces hairy. |
Pedicels | present. |
|
Flowers | perianth and androecium epigynous, 10 mm diam.; hypanthium urceolate, 2–4 mm, glabrous or weakly floccose; sepals 5, suberect, triangular; petals 5, white, irregularly round, base weakly clawed; stamens 10, shorter than petals; carpels 2 or 3, distinct, basally adnate to hypanthium, styles 2 or 3, lateral, distinct; ovules 2. |
sepals 1–2 mm. |
Fruits | pomes, usually bright red, sometimes yellow, ellipsoid, 5–10 mm, glabrous or glabrate; flesh mealy; hypanthium persistent; sepals persistent, accrescent over hypanthial opening. |
|
Pyrenes | 2 or 3 per fruit, carpel walls thin, soft; styles not persistent; seeds 1 per pyrene, large. |
brown, smooth. |
Heteromeles |
Heteromeles arbutifolia |
|
Phenology | Flowers Apr–Aug. | |
Habitat | Chaparral, oak woodlands, mixed-evergreen forests | |
Elevation | 0–1300 m (0–4300 ft) | |
Distribution |
CA; nw Mexico |
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
|
Discussion | Species 1. Heteromeles resembles Aronia and Photinia; it differs by having 10 stamens instead of 20, nearly free carpels (versus fully connate), and fruit flesh lacking stone cells (versus often possessing some). Its fruit is of the coreless type (J. R. Rohrer et al. 1991). Molecular evidence (D. Potter et al. 2007) shows a relationship to the Asiatic Eriobotrya and Rhaphiolepis Lindley miniclade; fruit type, notched petals, and other characteristics agree. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Heteromeles arbutifolia is widely distributed in the Coast Ranges north to Humboldt County and in a more scattered manner in the Sierra Nevada to Shasta County. Plants are used for Christmas decoration in the flora area and are sometimes cultivated for ornament where the species prospers. Two varieties have been named, var. cerina (= Photinia arbutifolia var. cerina), which represents yellow-fruited forms, and var. macrocarpa (= P. arbutifolia var. macrocarpa), with more floriferous inflorescences and larger fruits (8–10 mm). The first is a sporadic variant worthy only of forma status; the variety named by Munz is more substantial, seems usually to have shorter and relatively broader leaves with barely toothed, revolute margins, and is said to be most common on the Channel Islands of San Clemente and Santa Catalina. This variety seems to intergrade with var. arbutifolia, which represents the bulk of the species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 447. | FNA vol. 9, p. 447. |
Parent taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Photinia arbutifolia, H. arbutifolia var. cerina, H. arbutifolia var. macrocarpa, H. fremontiana, H. salicifolia, P. salicifolia | |
Name authority | M. Roemer: Fam. Nat. Syn. Monogr. 3: 100, 105. (1847) | (Lindley) M. Roemer: Fam. Nat. Syn. Monogr. 3: 105. (1847) |
Web links |