1911 POMONA COLLEGE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC BOTANY, VOL. I, No. 4, DECEMBER. 



New and Little Known Trees Suitable for 

 Southern California Avenues 



DR. C. F. FRANCESCHI 

 SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA 



Southern California has started at last to build good roads, and there is no 

 reason whatever why we should not have them as perfect as any in the world, 

 because we are able to employ the best talent and the best materials, while our 

 exceptionally equable climatic conditions are ideal for the maintenance of good 

 roads. 



If we need perfect roads we also need them to be beautiful, and it is obvious 

 that more careful attention is going to be bestowed on the selection of trees which 

 will prove best adapted either for ornament or for shade. 



Everybody in Southern California is aware of the fact that we are able to 

 draw upon almost any part of the world for ornamental trees, just as we do for 

 all sorts of shrubs and other plants. Consequently, there will be much too many 

 for this especial purpose. In this paper I am going to mention only such trees 

 as have already proven themselves particularly desirable for planting along 

 avenues or roadways of considerable length, and between sixty to one hundred 

 feet wide. 



The selection of trees best adapted for planting on streets in the residence 

 sections of our towns is obviously subject to more special requirements and 

 restrictions, and will not be treated in this paper. The question whether in 

 Southern California deciduous trees must entirely be supplanted by evergreens 

 I am not going to discuss, believing that either one class or the other might be 

 preferable under different conditions. 



As I understand it, the beauty of an avenue of trees resides principally in 

 their uniform growth and in each individual tree being allowed to display its 

 particular character and features, and not to become entangled with its neighbors. 



Along such avenues, sixty to one hundred feet wide, and which, very likely, 

 will not have cemented or asphalted sidewalks, trees which will eventually attain 

 sixty to one hundred feet in height will not be objectionable, even if they grow a 

 very big trunk. 



Native Evergreen Trees 



The following California native trees have already been planted on a more 

 or less extensive scale and are sure to prove satisfactory: 



Prunus integrifolia, "Island Cherry," "Islay," by some botanists considered 

 to be only a form of the "mountain" or "wild cherry," but a native (exclusively) 

 of Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and Santa Catalina islands. Of rapid and pyramidal 

 growth, the glossy foliage much varying in shape and size, but never holly-like. 

 Will thrive in almost any kind, of soil, and stand well heavy winds. May attain 

 sixty to eighty feet; should be planted twenty-five to fifty feet apart. 



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