Cherries in general are distinctive mostly in their fruit, otherwise they can be easily confused with other members of the Rose family such as apples, or plums. They tend to have narrow leaves with long stalks (petioles) which are alternately arranged. There are 6 common wild species of cherry that you can find in chaparral habitats in California. Holly-leafed cherry is unique in having leathery, evergreen leaves usually with a spiny margin (like holly, hence its name). The other species have thin deciduous leaves without distinctive teeth or spines. On the Channel Islands, a unique subspecies has a flatleaf (rather than wavy) and entire leaf margins (rather than spiny-toothed).

Although the fruits of the Holly-leafed cherry are edible, you'll notice that each fruit contains a lot more "pit" and a lot less "flesh" than the cherries that we buy at the grocers. This is because wild cherry species haven't been bred to maximize the ratio of edible flesh to inedible seed. Native Californian Salinan Indians called this plant "slay" (the Spanish version of which is "islay", and prepared a meal from the roasted and pounded seeds that are found within the hard pit. The meal, in turn, was used to prepare tamales, tortillas, and gruel. The seeds contain hydrocyanic acid (a highly toxic compound) and therefore require a long period of leaching and several washes before ingestion.