Self-Guided Tree Walk: Junior Museum & Zoo

Tree Selection by Ubran Cummings, Canopy Board Member and Dave Muffly, ISA Certified Arborist & Canopy Board Member.
Spring 2006

Download this Tree Walk (PDF Version)

This Tree Walk begins outside the front entrance to the Junior Museum and Zoo, 1451 Middlefield Road.

1. Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
Also known as Maidenhair tree, this tree has a unique leaf shape and it turns a gorgeous yellow in the fall. When the leaves fall they create a carpet of color underneath the tree. Ginkgos have been around for a very long time. Some fossilized ginkgo leaves have been dated to 270 million years ago - the time when dinosaurs were still around!

2. English Yew (Taxus baccata)
This evergreen tree can look a little like a bush. It is a beautiful dark green color and has great wood for woodworking. But more importantly, in 1962 a great discovery was made. People looking for cancer cures were testing all kinds of plants to find a cure. The Western Yew (Taxus brevifolia) was found to have real value. The cancer drug tamoxifen is made from the bark of this tree.

3. Pecan (Carya illinoensis )
This is a rare tree in the Bay Area. It is more common in the Southeastern United States, where pecan nuts drop from the tree in the autumn. Take a look at its very long leaves. The nuts don't ripen properly here because the climate is too cool.

4. Hollywood juniper (Juniperus chinensis 'Kaizuka' or 'Torulosa')
Easily recognized because of its shape, this tree is mostly seen as a residential landscape bush. However, one speicmen in Palo Alto has grown to more than three stories in height. The berries of this tree can be used to flavor foods. See if you can find a berry growing on the tree (but don't eat it!)

5. Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
This native tree provides for its own needs. Its needles drop to the ground providing mulch which adds nutrients to the soil and helps them hold in water. Because this tree grows very tall, it also takes water out of fog, trapping water drops that fall to the ground and provide moisture for the roots. Our city is named for El Palo Alto, a 1,000 year old coast redwood near El Camino Real and the San Francisquito creek. Coast redwoods are protected in Palo Alto.

6. Coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia)
This tree gets its name because it only grows naturally along the Pacific coast of California. This is one of two types of oak trees that are protected in Palo Alto. The coast live oak is evergreen, meaning it has leaves all year round. The other protected tree in Palo Alto, the valley oak, is deciduous, meaning it loses its leaves in the winter.

7. Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)
This tree was a favorite back in the 1920's and 30's when many were planted along the streets of Palo Alto. It has beautiful blossoms in the spring that are very fragrant. If you are visiting in the spring, see if you can find a flower and enjoy the fragrance. It is like an exotic perfume.

8. Common horsechestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)
This tree is native to Europe and can grow to 60 ft. tall. When it blooms, its white flowers, with red at the base, are very striking. Unlike true chestnuts, this tree's nuts are not edible.

9. Mock orange (Pittosporum tobira)
This is called "mock" orange becaue its flowers smell like orange blossoms. It is also a prolific bloomer.

10. Sycamore or London plane tree (Platanus acerifolia)
This is the most commonly planted street tree in the world! Sycamores are planted because they can thrieve in cities. Can you think of some of the challenges a tree might face when it's growing in a city?

11. Red oak (Quercus rubra)
This tree is native to eastern North America, but it is planted widely here because it thrives in our climate. The leaves turn a lovely red in the fall, and that is why it is called red oak.

12. Deodar cedar (Cedrus deodora)
This conifer is native to the Himalaya Mountains. It is a fast-growing tree that can reach 80 ft. in height. The cones on the tree are always vertical on top of the graceful branches.

13. California bay (Umbellularia californica)
Also called California laurel, this native tree is best known for its leaves. See if you can find a leaf on the ground. Crush it in your hand and smell. These leaves are used as a spice in cooking.

14. American persimmion (Diospyros virginiana)
This tree comes in male and female trees. If you have both together, the female tree produces orange, edible fruit that are very distinctive after the tree loses its leaves in the fall.

15. Port Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)
This cedar was named for a town in Oregon near one of the only two areas where it grows naturally. The other area is alongside the northern California coast. The wood from this tree has an incredible fragrance.

16. Red horsechestnut (Aesculus carnea)
This horsechestnut is smaller than the common horsechestnut. It can grow to 40 ft. tall. When in bloom, this tree has hundreds of soft pink to red flowers.

17. Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica)
This tree is native to Northern Africa and may grow to 60 ft. tall.

18. Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)
This is one of three different species in the redwood family. This particular species was discovered in China after World War II. Seeds were brought here, cultivated and now you can buy them readily at nurseries. The age of this tree is estimated at 55 years old. What's different about this redwood? Surprisingly for a conifer, it's deciduous, meaning it loses all its needles in the winter.

Notes:

~ "Deciduous" trees drop all their leaves and are bare for some part of the year.

~ "Evergreen" trees always have leaves (although old leaves drop eventually.)

~ "Conifers" grow cones that contain seeds and are usually evergreen trees that have needles instead of leaves.

~ "Native" trees grow naturally in this area.