Heteromeles arbutifolia

Christmas berry

Family: Rosaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Christmas berry is a California native shrub found in northwestern California, Sierra Nevada foothills, central and northern Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, central western, and southwestern regions in chaparral, oak woodland, and mixed-evergreen forest at elevations below 1,300 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces small white flowers in domed clusters with branches covered in white woolly hair. Growing as a shrub or small tree up to 10 meters tall with grayish trunk bark and puberulent twigs, it develops a distinctive branching structure. Its evergreen leaves are leathery, elliptic, 5 to 10 centimeters long with fine teeth along the edges, creating a dense and glossy canopy. The fruit is a bright red pome 5 to 10 millimeters in diameter, with a mealy pulp that attracts birds and provides winter visual interest.

Habitat: Chaparral, oak woodland, mixed-evergreen forest

Bloom period: (May)Jun-Aug

Elevation: < 1300 m

Bioregions: NW, SNF, n&ampc SNH, GV, CW, SW

California counties: Humboldt, San Diego, Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, Riverside, Butte, Lake, San Luis Obispo, Tuolumne, San Bernardino, Shasta, Calaveras, Trinity, Colusa, Nevada, Santa Barbara, San Mateo, Fresno, Sonoma, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Monterey, Placer, Mendocino, Yolo, Kern, Mariposa, El Dorado, Tehama, Santa Cruz, Marin, Amador, Sacramento, Del Norte, Glenn, Plumas, Siskiyou, Solano, Tulare, Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, San Benito, Sutter, Merced, Yuba, Stanislaus

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.