Self-Guided Tree Walk: College Terrace

Tree Selection by Kevin Raftery, ISA certified arborist and faculty member at Foothill Community College
Updated by Jana Dilley and Marty Deggeller, summer 2003
Additional information gathered by Susan Rosenberg and Debbie Mytels from Sunset Western Garden Book and Sunset Trees and Shrubs.

Download this Tree Walk (PDF Version)

The College Terrace Tree Walk begins at the College Terrace Library, 2300 Wellesley Avenue

1a. Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea)
~ College Terrace Library, 2300 Wellesley Avenue, next to picnic table
This native of the Eastern U.S. can reach heights of 60 to 80 feet with deep roots. Leaves up to 6 inches turn bright scarlet in crisp autumn weather. This is a good street or lawn tree that is fine for growing plants underneath.

1b. Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
~ College Terrace Library, 2 trees east side of park
The source of traditional New England maple sugar, this tree can grow to 60 feet. Leaves provide spectacular color where it is cold.

1c. Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus)
~ College Terrace Library, huge tree next to building
Most common gum in California has dark green, sickle-shaped leaves. In the spring and winter, it has creamy white to yellow flowers. Needs deep soil and lot of room. Aromatic but messy; sheds bark.

2. Silk Oak (Grevillea robusta)
~ 2211 Williams Street, two trees in front yard
Fast growing to 80 feet. Thrives in heat, but is brittle and easily damaged in wind. Large clusters of orange flowers in early spring. Despite its name, this tree does not belong to the oak family.

3. Canary Island Date Palm (Phoenix canariensis)
~ NE corner of Williams Street and College Avenue, 3 trees
Heavy-trunked plant grows to 60 feet with a 50-foot spread of many gracefully arching fronds.

4. Maidenhair Tree (Ginkgo biloba)
~ 2110 Yale Street, right side near fence
Considered the oldest cultivated tree on earth, ginkgos are extinct in the wild. Used as an herbal remedy. Related to conifers but instead of needles, they have broad, fan-shaped leaves.

5. Chinese Pistache (Pistacia chinensis)
~ 2133 and 2139 Yale Street, street trees
Beautiful fall foliage: scarlet, crimson, orange, and sometimes yellow. Fruit on the female tree starts bright red and turns dark blue. Can reach 60 feet.

6. Cork Oak (Quercus suber)
~ Opposite 560 Cambridge Avenue, between Yale Street and El Camino Real
Thank this tree’s bark for the cork in your wine bottle. Does not make a good street tree once children realize how easily the bark can be carved.

7. Silk Tree (Albizzia julibrissin)
~ 2395 Williams Street—corner of California Avenue
Excellent small patio tree with feathery pink flowers if you don’t mind some litter. Grows rapidly to 40 feet with multiple trunks but can be headed back to make a 10 to 20 foot forest umbrella.

8. Box Elder (Acer negundo)
~ 2295 Oberlin Street, left side next to house
This deciduous tree can grow to 60 feet. The leaves are divided into 3 to 9 oval leaflets with toothed margins; they turn yellow in the fall. Needs occasional deep watering.

9. Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
~ 2222 Oberlin Street, right side of house
The world’s tallest species, redwoods can grow 3 to 5 feet a year. In home gardens, they often reach 70 to 90 feet with a spread of 15 to 30 feet. Grows well next to a watered lawn in full sun to part shade. This is the nicest redwood in College Terrace.

10. Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica)
~ 2120 Harvard Street, right side, front yard
A large specimen tree, this cedar can grow to 60 feet. Needles are grouped in clusters and cones are carried upright on its branches. No extra water is needed once the tree is mature.

11. Sago Palm (Cycas revoluta)
~ 2076 Harvard Street, left of front door
This palm-like plant grows slowly to 10 feet, and is related to conifers, not palms. New plants grow attached to the parent, then drop as offsets to the ground. Needs regular water and partial shade.

12. Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)
~ 1425 Stanford Avenue, front yard
In summer and fall, these evergreen trees produce showy white flowers, which develop into an interesting seed pod. Large leaves are a litter problem, while surface roots will lift sidewalks. Drought tolerant; they do better, however, with summer water.

13. Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca’)
~ 2025 Columbia Street, front left corner
Magnificent example of this silvery blue variety. This tree produces a lot of pollen and cone scales. Slow-growing, it can reach 60 feet and may take up a 30 foot circle.

14. Mimosa (Acacia baileyana)
~ 2057 Amherst Street, front left corner of property
Among the earliest trees to bloom, the yellow flowers create an abundance of pollen. A rapid grower, acacias are drought-tolerant and do well in poor soils. They reach a height of 20 to 40 feet.

15. Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens)
~ 2100 Amherst Street, at corner of house
Native to the Sierras, this tree is sometimes confused with the redwood because of its reddish brown bark. Initially slow growing, it can take shade or full sun and will reach 75 to 90 feet.

16. Canary Island Pine (Pinus canariensis)
~ 2131 Amherst Street, next to fence
A drought-tolerant tree, it grows fast into a pyramidal shape with widely spaced branch tiers. Needles grow in threes and are 9 to 12 inches long.

17. Chinese Photinia (Photinia serrulata)
~2282 Amherst Street, next to garage
Often grown as a shrub, this plant can be pruned to a tree of 35 feet. Drought tolerant, may get fire blight and mildew. Copper-colored new growth in spring, white flowers and red berries in fall.

18. Italian Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens)
~ 2286 Bowdoin Street, right of driveway
Usually seen in its column-shaped variety, this tree can grow to 60 feet tall, and yet may be only a few feet wide. It is often used along fences to create a screen.

19a. Italian Stone Pine (Pinus pinea)
~ 1501 California Avenue, at right side of building
Often seen in classical Italian landscape paintings. A bushy globe when young, it develops a thick trunk with umbrella-like branches and will become too large for a small garden. This tree is the source of pine nuts (pignolas). Drought-tolerant, it reaches 40 to 80 feet.

19b. Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
~ 1501 California Avenue, a pair on left side of building
Uniquely shaped leaves turn from bright green to deep yellow in the fall, making this a showy, big, garden tree. Tulip-shaped flowers appear on 10-year- old trees, often hidden high in the branches. They need summer water, and wide-spreading roots should not be damaged or compacted.

20. Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia)
~ 1510 California Avenue, 2 street trees
This elm is more resistant to pests and Dutch elm disease and can grow to 30 feet in 5 years. Elms also have shallow and aggressive roots and narrow branch crotches which split off easily in storms. Usually an evergreen, it may lose its leaves in a cold snap. Older trees sometimes shed bark in patches.

21. Raywood Ash (Fraxinus oxycarpa ‘Raywood’)
~ 1440 California Avenue, 2 street trees
These will grow to 25 to 35 feet with a rounded shape. The leaves turn purplish-red in autumn. There are no seeds, and it needs moderate water.

22a. Catalpa or Indian Bean (Catalpa bignonioides)
~ 1410 California Avenue, street tree
The heart-shaped leaves, 4 to 8 inches long, give an odd odor when crushed. The tree grows 25 to 50 feet tall and nearly as wide. Pyramidal clusters of blossoms appear in late spring and develop into bean-like pods that remain on the tree after leaves fall.

22b. Valley Oak (Quercus lobata)
~ 1410 California Avenue, in driveway
This oak should determine the landscaping around it. Falling debris makes attempts at formal gardens beneath it useless, and watering of other plants around its roots can cause crown root fungus, leading to the death of the tree.

23. Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa)
~ 2349 Dartmouth Street, front yard
These familiar, picturesque trees in windy, coastal areas grow narrow and pyramidal when young, reaching up to 40 feet high. Away from their native environment, these trees may develop a coryneum canker fungus which will kill them.

24. Blackwood (or Black) Acacia (Acacia melanoxylon)
~ 2325 Dartmouth Street, between driveway and fence
Black acacias grow fast, up to 40 feet, with a 20-foot spread. Roots, litter and brittle branches are a problem in confined spaces. Cream-colored flowers grow in clusters. The U.S. imports more than 11,000 tons of acacia sap annually, most of which is used in food, often as a thickening agent.

25. Red Ironbark (Eucalyptus sideroxylon)
~ 2271 Dartmouth Street, next to tennis courts
This species grows in a variety of shapes from upright to weeping and open to dense. Reddish-pink flowers form showy clusters from autumn to late spring. The blue-green leaves turn bronze in fall and will become chlorotic (iron deficient) in wet adobe soil.

26. White Mulberry (Morus alba)
~ 1411 College Avenue, 2 street trees on Dartmouth
Birds love a mulberry’s messy seeds, but there are also fruitless varieties. They grow rapidly to 35 feet, with a wider spread—and widely spreading roots as well. If watered well in its youth, a mature mulberry will be drought-tolerant. The leaves turn yellow in the fall.

27. London Plane Tree (Platanus acerifolia)
~ 1400 College Avenue, street tree on corner
These trees “rise above the indignities of smog, dust and automobile exhaust,” according to Sunset, and may reach 80 feet high by 40 feet wide. Large leaves may sometimes drop prematurely due to anthracnose, while seed balls may create a litter problem.

28. White Fir (Abies concolor)
~ 2165 Dartmouth Street, left side behind fence
A California native, it needs little water in the summer and may reach 50 to 75 feet tall. Cones grow up on the branch (rather than down as on a spruce.)

29. California Pepper Tree (Schinus molle)
~ 2150 Dartmouth Street, street tree
A native of Peru, this weeping tree with rose-colored berries and fern-like foliage makes a beautiful show in fall. Drought resistant, its surface roots will raise and crack pavement and seek out sewer and water lines. Pollen may be a problem for people with allergies.

30. Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica)
~ 2124 Dartmouth Street, a pair in front lawn
An evergreen with large leathery leaves, the loquat can grow to 30 feet tall. It has small white flowers in autumn. Yellow fruit with big seeds inside will ripen in spring and may be used for jam.

31. Chinese Fringe Tree (Chionanthus retusus)
~ 2290 Harvard Street, northern most tree in row along fence
The name comes from fringe-like white petals on the flowers that grow in big lacy clusters during June and July. Broad leaves turn deep yellow in fall. This species grows to about 20 feet.

32. Vine Maple (Acer circinatum)
~ 2297 Harvard Street, on right by white fence
Native to Northern California, this tree has excellent fall color. It grows 5 to 35 feet high with either one or several trunks. It can be used in a landscape in the same way you would use a Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)

This publication was funded by the California ReLeaf 2003 Capacity-Building Grant Program and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.