66 AS CALIFORNIA FLOWERS GROW 



seeds of Christmas Berry are never able to produce 

 plants unless they have passed through the alimen- 

 tary canal of a bird. Others claim that they will 

 grow if you clean them when you pick them. Sup- 

 pose you investigate and see what are the facts about 

 these seeds. 



The botanical name of the Christmas Berry, 

 Heteromeles arbutifolia, deals with its fruit and 

 leaves. Heteromeles indicates that the fruit is not 

 the same substance throughout, and that you have 

 seen by cutting the berry and finding the central 

 cavity. "Arbutifolia" tells that its leaves are like 

 those of the Arbutus family. "Folia," you know, 

 always indicates "leaves," whether in a book or in a 

 plant. We commonly call this plant California 

 Holly because its berries are cardinal for Christ- 

 mas; and our traditions teach us that Yuletide deco- 

 rations, to be conservative, should be holly. 



Lately we have been reviving the Spanish Cali- 

 fornian name for the shrub, Tollon. We pronounce 

 it correctly, but we mis-spell it. The early Spanish 

 pioneers found it growing in gorges, and so they 

 named it "Tollon," or gorge berry. The botany of 

 the United States Geological Survey, which is the 

 standard for California, spells the name correctly; 

 but our modern writers seem to be too far away 

 from the Spanish days to remember their orthogra- 

 phy, and they are misled by the Spanish Californian 



