Mayten tree Mayten tree

Trees to 15 m. Stems erect to spreading; branchlets gray-brown, pendent, glabrous. Leaves: petiole 2–5 mm; blade elliptic to lanceolate, 1–6 × 0.4–2 cm, base cuneate, margins regularly serrulate, apex acute. Flowers: sepals green, rounded; petals 1.5–3 m. Capsules yellow or straw colored, 5–9 × 5–6.5 mm.

Flowering spring; fruiting summer. Disturbed scrub and oak woodlands; 100–400 m; introduced; Calif.; South America (Argentina, Chile).

Maytenus boaria is naturalized in the San Francisco Bay area, where it spreads after fires.