Go Hug A Tree
Even the trees come from somewhere else. Of the hundreds of species that shade Angelenos and punctuate the skyline, only a handful--notably the sycamore, various oaks and a type of palm different from the ubiquitous Mexican fan palm--are native. Between 1870 and 1930, L.A.’s population erupted maniacally, from 6,000 to 1.2 million. The newcomers worshiped the climate but not the evidence of the climate: To the interlopers, the subtle, pale species that grew on the desert-like plains looked like weeds.
The new Californians wanted shade. So the human population brought with it an explosion in cultivated trees that eventually transformed the former ranchos of the Californios into a splendidly oxymoronic urban forest. The natural here is artificial. It’s a distraction at times. But who would want to hold that against a particular specimen? L.A.’s streets and parks are thick with leafy, multi-limbed, bark-clad masterpieces, breathing as we are breathing. They live outside our windows. Some tolerate our fumes. On certain streets, the camphor and ficus trees make tunnels as sensuous in changing light as a massage. In every city and neighborhood of Southern California, estimable trees invite communion. The wise leaf-lover finds particularly tall or old or gnarled or rare ones by consulting published guides. Unusual trees in towns and sections as far-flung as Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Santa Barbara, Brentwood, Whittier and northeast L.A. (Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Mt. Washington) have been identified and cataloged in charming books and pamphlets.
The key work of this genre and the essential tree watcher’s companion is “Exceptional Trees of Los Angeles” (California Arboretum Foundation, 1988), which combines the votes of a committee of arborists for the most remarkable examples of a hundred different species all over L.A. County. This and other books, available in libraries, allow any reader to find a great old tree to fall in love with. Here’s what one tree-hugger discovered.
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Eagle Tree
Known formally as the Western or California sycamore, the robust Eagle Tree got its nickname from the majestic birds that once nested in its branches. It grows primarily along watercourses throughout the state and reaches 50 to 100 feet in height.
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Moreton Bay Fig
Native to Queensland and northern New South Wales in Australia, the Moreton Bay fig is noted for large, buttressed roots that spread out from the trunk. It can grow to nearly 100 feet, spreading its roots over a quarter of an acre and living for more than 100 years. They were planted at the turn of the 20th century in and around Santa Monica, Olvera Street, Pasadena, Long Beach and the West Adams area.
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Paradox Walnut
A hybrid between the English or Persian walnut and a native California walnut, the Paradox Walnut has a massive branching structure. It was first planted in 1907 by the University of California Agriculture Experiment Station in Whittier, one of the earliest sites of walnut production in Southern California.
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Cedar of Lebanon
Highly prized as a royal tree during Biblical times, the grand Cedar of Lebanon was valued for its beauty, durability and fragrance. It is said to have been used by the Israelites to build the Temple of Solomon. One Whittier homeowner had a Cedar of Lebanon shipped from the Holy Land in 1888; it grew to more than 60 feet, with a trunk nearly 13 feet around.
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Ombu Tree
This native of the pampas grasslands of southern South America is noted for a gigantic, foot-like trunk that stores water in times of drought. It is the unofficial national tree of Argentina and appears in the country’s folklore.
