Favorite Tree Native to Your Area

[ahosey01]

What is your favorite tree native to your area?  You can only pick one.

Mine is SIderoxylon celastrinum formerly Bumelia celestrina.

[Darold Petty]

Quercus agrifolia,        https://calscape.org/Quercus-agrifolia-(Coast-Live-Oak)

[ahosey01]

24 minutes ago, Darold Petty said:

Quercus agrifolia,        https://calscape.org/Quercus-agrifolia-(Coast-Live-Oak)

What about this tree do you like?

In the case of Sideroxylon celastrinum, I like that they have a deep green canopy, thick, dark bark that is rough and hard, and they make a tasty fruit in the fall that makes the birds like them.

[Darold Petty]

They are quite handsome, and as the link states, supportive to a vast number of species in the local ecology.  They are also prolific and will sprout many acorns each season.  They thrive in coastal areas where redwoods do not.  

[Rivera]

So many fine species to choose from. I'm fond of Garrya elliptica and Cupressus macrocarpa, but my favorite locally native tree is Umbellularia californica.

Oily leaves, rich and lustrous green, emitting a pungent and peppery aroma when crushed that makes my scalp tingle. 

Photos are mine, some from Samuel P Taylor SP and some from a redwood grove right near where I grew up.

Often seen as an understory plant in redwood forest, but a striking and substantial tree itself given the opportunity. 

[Silas_Sancona]

14 minutes ago, Rivera said:

So many fine species to choose from. I'm fond of Garrya elliptica and Cupressus macrocarpa, but my favorite locally native tree is Umbellularia californica.

Oily leaves, rich and lustrous green, emitting a pungent and peppery aroma when crushed that makes my scalp tingle. 

Photos are mine, some from Samuel P Taylor SP and some from a redwood grove right near where I grew up.

Often seen as an understory plant in redwood forest, but a striking and substantial tree itself given the opportunity. 

  Wood is slow to break down as well... Still have a few pieces i'd collected for Orchid mounts back in  ...2008. 

[Than]

Tough one. Perhaps Quercus ilex; when old it has beautiful ramified branches; looks majestic. There is a small forest of them nearby and I still haven't been but I will.

[Tracy]

I will select a hyper local tree.  I am actually cheating because the ones that grow near me (across the street from home) were planted here.  Habitat is confined to a small area in the north end of La Jolla, up through Del Mar, and a related ssp that grows on Santa Rosa Island.  I am referencing Pinus torreyana commonly called a Torrey Pine.  Golfers who are not from the area know the golf course named after this pine.  While I don't want one in my garden, they are spectacular in the neighborhood and in habitat.  The older ones in my neighborhood tower above pretty much every other tree.  There is one on the street behind me that has hosted a few nesting pair of Great Blue Herons the last few years.  It is dark and raining now, so I can't go out and snap a photo of one in the neighborhood, but I can share an older photo of Torrey Pines State Reserve as seen from the south end of Del Mar.  The hillside in the distance is the largest native population of the species.

The Reserve is worth a visit when in the San Diego area.  The beach in the foreground and further south were beaches I worked back in my college days as a lifeguard.  Dan Fouts and the Charger team used to cool off in the water body surfing at Torrey Pines when their practice field was on campus at UCSD. I had to throw in some local north county trivia. 

I have seen some Torrey's planted a couple of miles further inland, but don't know how far away from the coastal fog zone they will survive.  Obviously the grove at Torrey Pines survives without any supplemental rain in an area where we average about 10" of rainfall per year with some years significantly below that.  The grove right along the edge of the bluff are all windswept and look spectacular while specimens further back are balanced in their growth and foliage.

[kinzyjr]

My personal favorite is Live Oak (Quercus virginiana), but some others include Florida Strangler Fig (Ficus aurea) and Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum).

[ahosey01]

40 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

My personal favorite is Live Oak (Quercus virginiana), but some others include Florida Strangler Fig (Ficus aurea) and Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum).

Hats off to the Taxodium.  Take a look at the knees on this one!! : wapbaldcypress (1200×800)

Here we have native Taxodium mucronatum.  Absolutely breathaking - if you visit Brownsville ever I'll show you a big old native grove where the bases are 10ft across on each tree!

 

[ahosey01]

1 minute ago, ahosey01 said:

Hats off to the Taxodium.  Take a look at the knees on this one!! : wapbaldcypress (1200×800)

Here we have native Taxodium mucronatum.  Absolutely breathaking - if you visit Brownsville ever I'll show you a big old native grove where the bases are 10ft across on each tree!

 

Link didn't work... paste!

[richtrav]

Adelia vaseyi is a really cool native down here

[Tracy]

I am adding photos of mature Pinus torreyana from my neighborhood.  Habitat photos will wait until I get down the road 10 miles.

[richtrav]

On 3/4/2025 at 9:56 AM, ahosey01 said:

What is your favorite tree native to your area?  You can only pick one.

Mine is SIderoxylon celastrinum formerly Bumelia celestrina.

There are some weeping forms that are especially nice

 

[happypalms]

Toona ciliata Australian red cedar. 

[ahosey01]

15 hours ago, richtrav said:

There are some weeping forms that are especially nice

 

Where is this tree at?