Acacia stenophylla - Shoestring Acacia

The Shoestring Acacia is a fast growing smaller evergreen tree reaching 25-30 with upright branching and somewhat bent or twisted to weeping secondary branches seemingly going all over each other. Generally single stemmed but can be found as a multi stemmed tree. Not really attractive in a small container and needs a good salesperson with a nice specimen on hand to sell them. Life span is reported to be plus or minus 50 years but I have seen several just fall over. 

Leaves are evergreen, alternately arranged, simple, linear, 12 -16" long by 1/3 - 1/2" wide, dull gray-green color on both sides, thick textured, generally straight but some lightly curved. They are technically phyllodes and not leaves, but flattened petioles which is the stalk of a typical leaf.

Flowers appear in the early spring but the only ones I have seen in SC county blooming are too high. They are light yellow and in round clusters like many other acacias.

Fruit is a pod, often called a loment because of the restrictions between the seeds, 3-5" long, tan to brown in color. Pod will often break apart at the constrictions. The pods I collected form seed off the trees in Santa Barbara came with weevils in every seed.

Stems are mahogany colored, thick and more or less shiny. Vegetative buds are tiny.

Bark is persistent, rough, dark gray with reddish inside the checked bark.

Misidentification:
Cant think of anything

Location:
Aptos:
Cabrillo College Hort Center (6500 Soquel Drive) (Gone - Fell over in the wind)
455 Sandalwood Dr.

Capitola
4525 Garnet St.

Santa Cruz
City all along Locust St

Eucalyptus spathulata - Swamp Mallee

The Swamp Mallee is a nice small evergreen tree in the 20-30' range with upright branches and an open canopy. Plants have somewhat of gray brown look to them, even in summer. Often grown as a screen, though I have only seen a few trees.

These are the two on Wharf Rd.

The leaves are evergreen, narrowly linear, 3+ inches long, about 1/4" wide, gray-green in summer. Turning reddish prior to abscission. 

Flowers are small, cream colored, not showy, hard to see (hard to reach as well). Flower buds are pretty cool, small but with a long cap (operculum) in clusters of (3)5-7.

Fruit is a small capsule.

Bark is smooth to the base where there is a tiny bit to persistent bark. Gray and red brown mostly

Misidentification: Other narrow leaf Eucalyptus for sure, but these are pretty small, very narrow and something like E. nicolii has very different bark.

Location:

Capitola

1901 Wharf Road, two specimens. Not sure about the exact address, its an apartment complex with 1900 Wharf Rd across the street.  (Gone - sorry about that)

Podocarpus henkelii - Long Leafed Yellowwood

The long leaved yellowood is an evergreen conifer from South Africa. I love this tree, its tight habit and drooping foliage makes it really different than most trees around here. And I like weeping conifers. Reportedly growing 75' tall in it's native habit I have not seen any larger than 25 feet. Usually they are narrowly columnar to pyramidal and quite dense, about 6-8' wide if 15' tall. Several at the Strybing Arboretum are much wider than the ones we seem to have here. There was a planting of five in pots in Aptos several years ago that was beautiful but the trees were pulled in favor of something else.

This is one of many at SF arboretum showing a very different habit that we I see in Santa Cruz.

Leaves evergreen, spiraly arranged or looking opposite, simple, drooping, shiny dark green, 3.5 - 7"  long, 1/2" wide, slightly curved, oblong to lanceolate, while the tip is narrow and drawn out. Usually clustered at the tips of the branches.

Terminal bud with nicely imbricate scales. Stems pale green, shallowly grooved, thin and generally curving upwards.

Plants dioecious, female reproductive structure borne along the stem, shows red in the early spring, giving rise to a pointy green cone, fleshy at maturity, 1" looking somewhat like an olive. 

Bark is shaggy tan to gray.

Misidentification: Maybe another Podocarpus, but I hope not. 

Location:
Aptos
538 Bayview Drive

Sciadopitys verticillata - Umbrella Pine

The umbrella pine is a really interesting but unusual evergreen conifer. Rarely seen in our area, generally grown for an accent tree in Japanese style gardens. The trees are narrow to pyramidal, fairly open crown, and a very slow grower to 20'. They have a rich green color although may be slighty off color during the winter.

Interesting leaves. Linear 2-4" long about 20 appearing per whorl giving the impression of an umbrella (hence the common name). Leaves are heavily grooved in the middle on both surfaces. Lower surface lighter green.

What look like small brown bumps or scales on the stems are actually the leaves, and the leaves are modified stems.... according to some botanists anyway. 

Woody cones, 2-4" long, green maturing brown.

Misidentification:

Can't think of anything. The foliage is unique.

Location:

Aptos

328 Palmer Ave.

Melaleuca linariifolia - Flax leaf Paperbark

There are so many of these small trees that you really notice them when they explode in color in late June. The flax leaf paperbark is a small evergreen tree, 20-25' tall with a  densely rounded canopy. Could be described as billowy, or puffy. Not really rounded then, irregularly rounded. These are on Main St in Soquel.

Leaves are evergreen, alternately arranged, linear shaped, 1 to 1-1/2" long, less than 1/8" wide, dark green on both sides, somewhat bluish colored. Don't be misled in the winter, its not a Yew. 

These trees bloom profusely in summer, June into July (other common name is Snow in Summer). Masses of small white flowers borne at near the tips of new shoots. Showy part of the flower is the stamens, which look fringed.

Fruit is a small capsule, brown, 1/8" diameter  clustered on the stems, lasting 2-3 years.

Stems are tan colored, developing into a white and brown papery peeling bark.

Misidentification:

Not a conifer, look for the fruit when the plant is not blooming. Other Melaleucas, such as M. styphelioides (big tree, not small and rounded).

Location:

Capitola

Monterey Dr at New Brighten School, by the sports fields.

Santa Cruz 

2057 Mission St at the doctors office, intersection of Mission, Almar and Younglove.

County Building on Ocean in the parking lot.