Toyon

Harsha ,added!

@ Karen ,here is a link for you. You can have all the toyon questions answered to your hearts content. If you post a question ,they will reply in a week. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Toyon

@ Karen this is native to California and Baja California.

@ karen, i think that you should be able to grow it in Tennesseee. Toyon can be grown in domestic gardens in well drained soil, and is cultivated as an ornamental plant as far north as Southern England. It can survive temperatures as low as -12°C. The bush is handsome all year round and the bright red berries in winter are showy (which birds often eat voraciously)

Hollywood actually may take its name from toyon, since it was a principle plant in the chaparral of the Hollywood hills.

@Ava,the seeds of these plants are toxic. Many birds that eat a lot of fruit separate out the seeds and regurgitate them, but the Cedar Waxwing lets them pass right through. Scientists have used this trait to estimate how fast waxwings can digest fruits

I will look out for cedar wax wings in the vicinity of these.

@ Ava this is Toyon. Thankyou again. The pulp of immature fruits contains a toxic cyanogenic glucoside that protects developing fruits from bird predation. As the fruit ripens, the cyanogenic glucosides gradually shift out of the pulp and into the seed, pulp carbohydrate levels increase, and fruits turn from green to bright red. The fruits become more attractive to birds as they ripen, and bird dispersal of the seeds is encouraged. Subsequent seed predation is prevented by the localization of cyanogenic glycosides in the seeds.