Help for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
Identifying a Mayten Garden Tree
Client's Request: Hello Master Gardeners, could you identify this tree for me? I moved from the Midwest (Minnesota) a couple of years ago and am learning the names of the trees and plants in the Bay Area that I am not familiar with. I live in a townhouse development in Walnut Creek and we have several trees of the variety pictured below in our complex. Thank you.
Help Desk Response: Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Help Desk asking about the identification of a tree planted in your development. Your photographs were helpful.
The tree is aMayten tree (Maytenus boaria) ). It is native to Chile which also has a Mediterranean climates similar to ours here in California.
This website has information about the tree and could be helpful in identifying other trees in California. https://selectree.calpoly.edu/tree-detail/maytenus-boaria
Good luck in learning about the plants in this area.
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (smt)
Notes: Contra Costa MG's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 608-6683, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/. MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ignore.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Biog.