toyon

[toi-on, -ohn]

1. an evergreen, rosaceous shrub or small tree, Heteromeles arbutifolia (orPhotinia arbutifolia ), of California and northern Mexico, having clusters of small, white flowers and bright red berries.

Word History and Origins

Origin of toyon¹

1840–50, variant of tollon < Mexican Spanish tollón

Example Sentences

Mace said she’d build a concrete house and the yard would have oak, sycamore, toyon, lemonade berry and lilac.

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Here are plants and flowers to enjoy, one for every month of the year, from lilacs, camellias and poinsettias to native buckwheat, wildflowers and toyon.

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OK, toyon berries are not flowers, but they are so bright and festive, and native to Southern California, so they seemed a fitting end to this floral calendar.

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Acres of terraced growing areas and multiple greenhouses produced many native plants grown from seed collected around the park such as sumacs, ceanothus, yellow-blooming flannel bush, manzanitas, barberries, monkeyflowers, Catalina cherry, toyon and coffeeberry.

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“The garden goes dormant in the summer but doesn’t die. Drought-tolerant plants are survivors. The sugar bush, toyon, manzanita, coffee berry, ceanothus and hummingbird sage hold their vivid green color year-round,” he said.

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