toyon

American  

[toi-on, -ohn] / ˈtɔɪ ɒn, -oʊn /

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.

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Etymology

Origin of toyon

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.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2025

“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.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 17, 2024

TreePeople is offering five varieties of native trees saplings for “adoption” — only one per household — including coast live oak, scrub oak, valley oak, toyon and southern black walnut.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2023

There’s a scent garden filled with fragrant sages created by landscape designer Margaret Oakley Otto, tall sugar bush and toyon shrubs covered with berries and the dried remains of summer’s wildflowers.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 30, 2022

Silently I left the toyon bushes and ran without stopping until I reached the mesa.

From "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell