It appears to be a favorable winter for the fruiting of red Toyon berries as patches of red have appeared on our chaparral hills. The berries while technically edible are very unpleasant if eaten raw. Heteromeles arbutifolia, Toyon, or California Holly is native to coastal ranges of California and southern Oregon. Although it grows on the hills around Hollywood that is apparently not the reason for the name.
California Holly: How Hollywood Didn’t Get its Name | Natural History Museum (nhm.org)
“Queens Tears” is a bromeliad with long slender green leaves and pink bracts with blue/purple and yellow petals. C. Fitzgerald garden.
The most vivid dahlia of 2025. Dahlia’s are native to the highlands of Central America and are the national flower of Mexico. The range of sizes, colors and petal structure make them an enduring hobby. Here in San Diego it is best to dig up the tubers over winter both to protect them from the cold but also from ground grubs.
There are many plants that fit this description, e.g. tea, anyone? or cinchona the source of the anti-malarial medicine quinine, but here is one I did not know. Gutta percha. By the late 1800’s the British Empire was the largest to have existed, spanning the globe from England to India, Malaya, Australia and Canada. Communication by boat took weeks or months. The invention of the telegraph and the unique properties of Gutta percha enabled the empire to remain manageable well into the 1900’s.
Enjoy this short video from the BBC