i cant help with a CA ID ....

but do teach the children.. to NEVER eat anything.. until you ID it ...

no need to scare them... and dont dissuade them in being interested ... just teach them be curious.. before eating ...

too many things.. look like real food .. perhaps not this tree fruit/nuts ... but other things ...

im not all chicken little on this.. i taught my kids to forage in the yard .. and to respect ma nature ... little did they know.. i planted most of it ... lol ...

former stay at home dad .... ken

Looks like Pacific madrone, Arbutus menziesii.

"Looks like Pacific madrone, Arbutus menziesii."

Not with that bark - arbutus bark is very distinctive and this just does not come close. I am not sure what it is.........but I can say with some certainty that it isn't madrone.

I want to thank both benz6 and Embothrium for taking the time to answer and getting pretty close to the description of what I have seen of the tree in question. Yesterday, although in evening light, I was able to get another look at it. I couldn't get close to any of the roundish orange clusters still on the tree, but after checking some of the pictures online, I feel pretty sure it must be a carrotwood.

The Pacific madrone, in most of the pictures, appeared to have a red bark, and in some pictures it was shown peeling, whereas the tree I was searching for definitely has a smooth grey trunk. (Though, interestingly, one source I found through Embothrium's link mentions that the carrotwood has an orangey or red bark under that smooth grey one.)

In one of the pictures, I could also see black seeds peeking out at the end of their orange sheaths, right on the tree, just like the ones the little girl showed me. And those seed capsules, or whatever they are called, are slightly elongated ovals--again, like the ones she brought to me.

I'll have a chance for a look at the tree in better light on Sunday, but am satisfied for now that the mystery has been solved.

Interestingly, a YouTube video in the linked materials says that this tree is invasive and not welcome in some places, but in Florida and California, it is, nevertheless, cultivated for ornamental purposes. That would accord with my finding more than one specimen planted along a busy street in San Diego. Must check if there are many, next time I am in that area.

Ken: Thank you for the timely warning. I don't think this particular little girl is in any danger of putting the seeds in her mouth, but it is always good to train children not to eat unidentified plants. It might save them someday from eating a poisonous mushroom and dying!

Gardengal, I am happy to have that confirmation of my thoughts on the madrona bark because I was wondering if some relatives of "my tree" might actually have red bark or if its bark might peel in a different season, though that seemed unlikely. Does the suggestion of Cupaniopsis anacardioides seem more likely to you? (See Embothrium's link above.)

I am not very familiar with that species but the photos and description seem to fit.

Yes Carrotwood/Cupaniopsis anacardioides seems likely. Common street tree in SoCal. They come up from seed, so easy to grow.

Madrone in San Diego--not their climate!

Thank you, too Hoovb. Good point about SD not being the right climate for Madrone; I had no idea of that. I was able to tell the little girl yesterday that the tree had been identified as a Carrotwood, and she was pleased. It may be a good thing that they live in an apartment complex and don't have a garden where she could experiment planting tree seeds!

According to the US Forest Service, Pacific madrones are found as far south as Mount Palomar in San Diego county and there are even reports of them into Baja California. But I'd think they'd be far from common in those very southerly areas of their range :-) And always within shouting distance of the coast - never inland.

Where I live they are as common as dirt....probably 15 or more within a 1/2 mile radius!!