Читать книгу The Trees of San Francisco онлайн

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At our home in Parnassus Heights, we have a backyard pippin apple tree (Malus domestica), and we know that, come October, we have to harvest it before the parrots do. They have figured out exactly when the apples ripen, so we count on their annual fall visits, when they strip the tree of the apples we can’t reach.

The parrots typically travel in large flocks, and they’re very loud, so if they stop by your neighborhood, they’ll be hard to miss. If you really want a visit, bribe them by planting a plum, hawthorn, or apple tree. It may take a few years, but eventually you’ll be able to match your flora with some of San Francisco’s most colorful fauna.

Lyonothamnus floribundus ssp. asplenifolius

CATALINA IRONWOOD

LOCATION: 641 Broderick St./Fulton St. in NOPA; also 15 Hermann St./Market St. in Upper Market

The Catalina ironwood is one of the few California native trees planted on San Francisco streets. Although fossil records prove that this tree was once widespread throughout California, it is now limited in the wild to the Channel Islands of Santa Catalina, and to Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Clemente off the Southern California coast. This tree demonstrates how islands often develop unique flora as environmental threats from the mainland (in this case, perhaps plant-eating animals) are stopped at water’s edge.