118 Popular Studies of California Wild Flowers 



Our shrub was introduced into England more than one hundred 

 years ago, where it is called the California May-bush, because it 

 resembles a species of hawthorn called "The May" in England. 

 The two plants are related, belonging to the same family, and so the 

 English name is not so improperly applied as our more common 

 term of "California Holly." These plants are in no way related to 

 the holly trees. There is a resemblance between the berries, but the 

 less attractive foliage in no way resembles the striking, glossy holly 

 leaves of cultivation. Vendors of Toyon berries at Christmas-tide, 

 realizing this deficiency, usually mingle these bright scarlet berries 

 with our beautiful wild cherry leaves and those of the scrub oak, 

 which are exceedingly glossy and handsome in appearance. The 

 oblong, saw-toothed leaves of the Toyon are rigid and leathery and 

 slightly glossy, but do not compare with the brilliant leaves of 

 certain other shrubs. The plant was early called Photinia arbuti- 

 folia on account of its resemblance to the Chinese Photinia, or 

 Hawthorn, which also has red berries. The berries are edible, 

 although they have an acid taste. The Spanish-Californians used 

 them in making a pleasant drink, and in their season they formed a 

 regular part of the diet of Indians, who ate them both roasted and 

 boiled, or dried, and ground into a meal. The band-tailed pigeon 

 and the western robin are exceedingly fond of these berries, as are 

 also the shy hermit thrushes, and other birds. 



Late in the season, according to locality, from May until Aug- 

 ust, these bushes are covered with abundant panicles of small white 

 flowers, not particularly pretty, but fragrant, with a spicy woodsy 

 odor, and are among our most celebrated of honey flowers. During 

 their season of bloom the woods are melodious with the humming 

 of bees, busy at their harvesting. Their late blooms, when so many 

 of the nectar-bearing flowers are gone, are accordingly prized by 

 bee-keepers. The Toyons grow slowly, which makes the destruction 

 of these bushes all the more lamentable. They are handsome in 

 cultivation and make attractive hedges. If a few well-selected, 

 ripened berries are gathered and planted in tin cans, with proper 

 care, in a year or so they may be transplanted to gardens, and very 

 soon one would have plenty of Christmas berries for home decora- 

 tion and to spare, without robbing the mountain wild birds or mar- 

 ring the scenic beauty of our highways and foothills. . The trees 

 usually bear abundant fruit. It is rough handling which endangers 

 the trees, whereas careful pruning or cutting of modest bunches of 

 berries from the delicate Toyons might not be injurious to their 

 growth. Heavy pruning is sometimes recommended by horticultur- 

 ists, but must be done with intelligence and care. These berries, if 

 left on the trees,, furnish valuable food for the flocks of wild birds 

 that frequent California mountains in the winter time when other 

 food is scarce. 



