Self-Guided Tree Walk: South of Forest

Tree Selection by Dave Dockter, ISA certified arborist and Planning Arborist with the City of Palo Alto.
Updated by Jana Dilley and Marty Deggeller, summer 2003
Additional information gathered by Canopy volunteer Susan Rosenberg from Sunset Western Garden Book and Plants That Merit Attention – Trees.

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The South of Forest Tree Walk begins at Palo Alto’s Civic Center Plaza located at 250 Hamilton Avenue.

1. Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)
~ Double rows flanking the entrance to the Civic Center
Located atop one of Palo Alto’s underground parking structures the rooting area for these trees is approximately 3 feet deep. The soil volume, at 800 cubic feet per tree, has become the Palo Alto standard for such sites. These evergreen trees produce showy white flowers in summer and fall.

2. Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)
~ Downtown Post Office, 380 Hamilton Avenue, located on the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Waverley Street
A deciduous redwood, this tree was considered extinct for 20 million years. A forestry expedition traveling through China’s Sichuan province in 1941 discovered living examples. Specimens brought out of China in the 1940s were planted worldwide. This tree was planted March 7, 1949.

3a. Lipstick Tree or Coral Tree (Erythrina crista-galli)
~ 690 Waverley Street, corner of Waverley Street and Forest Avenue
The lipstick tree is known for its brilliant ‘lipstick vibrant’ red and coral color. Originally from Brazil, it prefers a tropical environment and is not frost hardy. This particular location provides a microclimate the tree likes.

3b. Shumard Oak (Quercus shumardii)
~ 690 Waverley Street, on Forest Avenue
The shumard oak is another tree currently being planted along Palo Alto’s streets.
It is a deciduous tree with notable fall color. Native to the Eastern U.S.

4. Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani)
~ 345 Forest Avenue, The Laning Chateau
These two magnificent specimens have flourished for nearly three-quarters of a century. They were planted by designer William Staller in 1927. This tree is considered scarce and expensive because of the time it takes to reach salable size - 15 feet in 15 years.

5. Pioneer Elm (Ulmus pioneer)
~ 777 Bryant Street, corner of Homer Avenue and Bryant Street, along Bryant
These newly planted elms are resistant to Dutch elm disease. Dutch elm disease has killed millions of American elms throughout North America and can attack most other elm species.

6. Maidenhair Tree (Ginkgo biloba)—Female
   English Yew (Taxus baccata)
   Irish Yew (Taxus baccata ‘Stricta’)
   Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
~ 351 Homer Avenue, Museum of American Heritage (circa 1900)
All trees are inside the gardens.
These original plantings remain at the Rhona Williams home and gardens (now home to the Museum of American Heritage.) The redwood trees were selected by Rhona Williams from Woodside. Female ginkgos are seldom planted due to their messy, ill-smelling fruit.

7. Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia)
~ Homer Park, across from the Museum of Heritage
This mature oak tree was moved to its current location from the 800 block of Ramona Street on August 28, 2003. At the time of the move, the tree was over 35 feet tall and weighed nearly 35 tons, including dirt.

8a. Valley Oak (Quercus lobata)
Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia)
~ 300 Homer Avenue, The Roth Building (circa 1932), in front courtyard
That this oak is healthy, balanced, and lacks serious signs of decay suggests Roth Building architect, Birge Clark, was careful to insure protection for the tree’s roots during construction. The jacaranda’s lavender-blue blossoms during the warm summer months are breath-taking.

8b. American Sweet Gum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
~ 300 Homer Avenue, on Bryant Street
Repeated cutting in order to maintain the sidewalk has caused these roots to adapt by growing in this pattern. These trees are common in Palo Alto, but are seldom planted now because of the round seedpods they drop, which are tripping hazards, and their habit of dropping limbs.

9. Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla)
~ Across from 828 Ramona Street
Unusual for Northern California climates, a notable specimen is found alongside Highway 101 in Santa Barbara with a canopy spread of 150 feet, a massively buttressed trunk and surface roots.

10. Cork Oak (Quercus suber)
~ 203 Forest Avenue, on Emerson Street
Cork pulled from a bottle of wine was once part of a cork oak. The outer bark is first stripped off the tree when it is about fifteen years old and then at seven to twelve-year intervals thereafter for at least one hundred years or more. The inner living cambium tissue is not injured in this process.

11. Fern pine (Afrocarpus elongatus)
~ Predominant street tree on Emerson Street, between Hamilton Avenue and Forest Avenue
Native to Eastern Africa but well-adapted to California. Depending on the type of pruning this plant receives it can be used as a street or lawn tree, a hedge, large shrub, container plant, or as an espalier. Nicknamed fern pine, it is not a pine tree. Formerly known as Podocarpus gracilior.

12. Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)
~ 270 Forest Avenue, front of Downtown Library
One of the best choices for a small to medium specimen tree. Select a tree to plant in the fall when they are displaying their best color.

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