Trees

California Coast Live Oak

Quercus agrifolia

Range: native to the California Floristic Province. It grows west of the Sierra Nevada mountain range from Mendocino County, California, south to northern Baja California in Mexico.

Info: Coast live oak typically has a multi-branched trunk and reaches a mature height of 33–82 feet. Some specimens may attain an age exceeding 250 years, with trunk diameters up to three or four meters.The leaves are dark green, oval, often convex in shape, 0.79–2.76 inches long and 0.39–1.57 inches broad; the leaf margin is spiny-toothed, with sharp thistly fibers that extend from the lateral leaf veins. Coast live oak is the only California native oak that actually thrives in the coastal environment, although it is rare on the immediate shore; it enjoys the mild winter and summer climate afforded by ocean proximity, and it is somewhat tolerant of aerosol-borne sea salt. The coastal fog supplies relief from the rainless California summer heat.

Fun Fact: The Coastal Live Oak is a severe allergen.

European Olive

olea europaea

Range: The species is cultivated in many places and considered naturalized in all the countries of the Mediterranean coast, as well as in Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Java, Norfolk Island, California, and Bermuda.

Info: an evergreen tree or shrub native to the Mediterranean, Asia, and Africa. It is short and squat, and rarely exceeds 26–49 feet in height. The fruit is a small drupe 0.39–0.98 inches long, thinner-fleshed and smaller in wild plants than in orchard cultivars. Olives are harvested in the green to purple stage. The olive's fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil; it is one of the core ingredients in Mediterranean cuisine.

Fun Fact: The olive branch has long been regarded as a symbol for peace. It appears on the national flags of seven nations, four US states and the flag of the United Nations.

Black Oak

Quercus kelloggii

Range: Native to western North America. It is a close relative of the black oak (Quercus velutina) found in eastern and central North America.

Info: Quercus kelloggii typically grows from 9–25 m (30–82 ft) in height and from 0.3–1.4 m (0.98–4.59 ft) in diameter. Large trees may exceed 118 feet in height and 5.2 feet in diameter. The species also grows in shrubby scrub-oak form on poor sites. In open areas the crown is broad and rounded, with lower branches nearly touching the ground or forming a browse line. Acorns are relatively large in this species, approximately one to two inches long and one inch wide. The deeply lobed leaves are typically four to eight inches long. While individual trees generally have a lifespan between 100 and 200 years, California black oak can live up to 500 years of age.

Fun fact: The California black oak is a critical species for wildlife. Oaks may be the single most important genus used by wildlife for food and cover in California forests and rangelands, and California black oak occupies more total area in California than any other hardwood species. Livestock also make heavy use of this species for food and cover.

Whitebark Pine

Pinus albicaulis

Range: native to the mountains of the western United States and Canada, specifically subalpine areas of the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range, Pacific Coast Ranges, and Rocky Mountains

Info: a member of the white pine group, the section Strobus; like all members of this group, the needles are in bundles of five with a deciduous sheath. The whitebark pine is an important source of food for many granivorous birds and small mammals. Its pinecones each cache about 30,000 to 100,000 seeds each year in small, widely scattered caches.

Fun Fact: The Whitebark Pine is very susceptible to the mountain pine beetle which damages population greatly.

Lodgepole Pine/Shore Pine

Pinus contorta

Range: Western North America.

Info: Like all pines, it is an evergreen conifer. Pinus contorta grows as an evergreen shrub or tree. The thin and narrow-crowned tree is 130 to 160 feet high and can achieve up to (7 ft) in diameter at chest height. Pinus contorta is a fire-dependent species, requiring wildfires to maintain healthy populations of diverse ages.

Fun Fact: Many populations of the Rocky Mountain subspecies, P. contorta subsp. latifolia, have serotinous cones. This means that the cones are closed and must be exposed to high temperatures, such as from forest fires, in order to open and release their seeds.

Deodar Cedar

Cedrus deodara

Range: Southwestern Asia

Info: It is a large evergreen coniferous tree reaching 131–164 feet tall (exceptionally 197 feet) with a trunk up to 10 feet in diameter. It has a conic crown with level branches and drooping branchlets. The leaves are needle-like, mostly one to two inches long.

Fun Fact: The inner wood is aromatic and used to make incense. Inner wood is distilled into essential oil. As insects avoid this tree, the essential oil is used as insect repellent on the feet of horses, cattle and camels.

Monterey Cypress

Cupressus macrocarpa

Range: native to the Central Coast of California. The native range of the species was confined to two small relict populations, at Cypress Point in Pebble Beach and at Point Lobos near Carmel, California.

Info: medium-sized coniferous evergreen tree, which often becomes irregular and flat-topped as a result of the strong winds that are typical of its native area. The seed cones are globose to oblong, approximately an inch long, with 6–14 scales, green at first, maturing brown about 20–24 months after pollination.

Douglas Fir

Pseudotsuga menziesii

Range: Western North America

Info: Douglas-firs are medium-size to extremely large evergreen trees, 70–330 feet tall (although only coast Douglas-firs reach such great heights). The leaves are flat, soft, linear, 3⁄4–1 1⁄2 inches long, generally resembling those of the firs, occurring singly rather than in fascicles; they completely encircle the branches, which can be useful in recognizing the species. As the trees grow taller in denser forest, they lose their lower branches, such that the foliage may start high off the ground. Douglas-firs in environments with more light may have branches much closer to the ground. They are extensively used for timber worldwide.

Fun Fact: Douglas-fir has been commonly used as a Christmas tree since the 1920s, and the trees are typically grown on Christmas Tree plantations.

London plane, London planetree, or hybrid plane

Platanus Acerifolia

Range: The species was formed by hybridization in the 17th century after P. orientalis and P. occidentalis had been planted in proximity to one another. It is often claimed that the hybridization took place in Spain, but it could also have happened in Vauxhall Gardens in London where John Tradescant the Younger discovered the tree in the mid-17th century.

Info: The fruit matures in about 6 months, to approximately one inch in diameter, and comprises a dense spherical cluster of achenes with numerous stiff hairs which aid wind dispersal; the cluster breaks up slowly over the winter to release the numerous two to three millimeter seeds. The London plane is a large deciduous tree growing 66–98 feet, exceptionally over 131 feet tall, with a trunk up to 10 feet or more in circumference. The bark is usually pale grey-green, smooth and exfoliating, or buff-brown and not exfoliating. The leaves are thick and stiff-textured, broad, palmately lobed, superficially maple-like, the leaf blade.

Fun fact: The London Plane is one of the most efficient trees in removing small particulate pollutants in urban areas.

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Range: There are more than 700 species of eucalyptus and most are native to Australia; a very small number are found in adjacent areas of New Guinea and Indonesia.

Info: Nearly all eucalyptus are evergreen, but some tropical species lose their leaves at the end of the dry season. As in other members of the myrtle family, eucalyptus leaves are covered with oil glands. The copious oils produced are an important feature of the genus. Although mature eucalyptus trees may be towering and fully leafed, their shade is characteristically patchy because the leaves usually hang downwards.

Fun Fact: In the 1850s, Eucalyptus trees were introduced to California by Australians during the California Gold Rush. Much of California has a similar climate to parts of Australia. By the early 1900s, thousands of acres of eucalyptus were planted with the encouragement of the state government. It was hoped that they would provide a renewable source of timber for construction, furniture making and railroad ties. Eucalyptus oil is highly flammable; ignited trees have been known to explode.

Cherry Plum

Prunus cerasifera

Range: It is native to Southeast Europe and Western Asia, and is naturalized in the British Isles and scattered locations in North America.

Info: Wild types are large shrubs or small trees reaching 25–40 feet tall, sometimes spiny, with glabrous, ovate deciduous leaves of 1.5–2.5 inches long. It is one of the first European trees to flower in spring often starting in mid-February before the leaves have opened. The flowers are white or pale pink, with five petals and many stamens, creating a bloom that is symbolic with spring. The fruit is edible (though tart), ripening to yellow or red from early July to mid-September.

Fun fact: The plant can self-reproduce.

American pepper

Schinus molle

Range: It is native to the Peruvian Andes.

Info: A quick growing evergreen tree that grows up to 45 feet tall and wide. The bright pink fruits of S. molle are often sold as "pink peppercorns" although S. molle is unrelated to true pepper. S. molle is a drought tolerant, long-lived, hardy evergreen species that has become a serious invasive weed internationally.

Fun Fact: often blended with commercial pepper.

Sweet Gum or Star-leaved gum

Liquidambar styraciflua

Range: Native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America and tropical mountainous regions of Mexico and Central America, but can be seen prevalent in North America.

Info: Sweet gum is one of the main valuable forest trees in the southeastern United States, and is a popular ornamental tree in temperate climates. It is recognizable by the combination of its five-pointed star-shaped leaves and its hard, spiked fruits. Sweetgum is one of the most common hardwoods in the southeastern United States, where it occurs naturally in lowlands

Fun Fact: Sweet gum is one of the most important trees for commercial hardwood.

Loquat

Eriobotrya japonica

Range: Native to the cooler hill regions of China to south-central China. It is also quite common in Japan, Korea,the hilly regions of India, Potohar and foothill regions of Pakistan and some can be found in some Northern part of the Philippines.

Info: It is a large evergreen shrub or tree, grown commercially for its yellow fruit, and also cultivated as an ornamental plant. The flowers have a sweet, heady aroma that can be smelled from a distance. Loquat fruits, growing in clusters, are oval, rounded or pear-shaped, 1–2 inches long, with a smooth or downy, yellow or orange, sometimes red-blushed skin. The succulent, tangy flesh is white, yellow or orange and sweet to subacid or acid, depending on the cultivar.

Fun Fact: The flavor is a mixture of peach, citrus and mild mango.