- Widely branched evergreen tree reaching 16 to 80 feet tall
- Clusters of white bell-shaped flowers hang on branch ends
- Rough-coated orange-red berries remain on the tree most of the winter and provide food for robins, cedar waxwings, mockingbirds, acorn woodpeckers, Stellar jays, towhees, flickers, band-tailed pigeons, and others
- The attractive reddish bark splits as the tree grows, revealing a new green or gold layer
- Host plant for larva of western brown elfin butterfly
- Host to Phytopthera ramorum, the organism that causes Sudden Oak Death, so it may not be transported into unaffected counties
- Found in Molate, Bay hills, Diablo and Hamilton sections
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