Paraserianthes lophantha lophantha - Plume Albizia

I rarely see Plume albizia used intentionally as a landscape plant. Most of the specimens I see are along the highway as escaped specimens growing with Acacia. These are small trees growing to 15' with a slightly narrower spread, with greenish yellow flowers. Most commonly seen on Highway 1 heading south between Larkin Valley Rd and Buena Vista Rd in the medium. This name is new to me. I was taught the old name, Albizia distachya.

Leaves are deciduous to partly evergreen, alternate, bipinnately compound, 6-12" long, containing 7-14 pairs of compound leaflets, each leaflet with up to 40 or so tiny 3/8" long, linear to oblong leaflets with entire margins, and a small pointed tip. There is a gland on the petiole. Leaves usually glabrous, but occasionally with some small hairs.

Leaflets are about 3/8" long.

Flowers early winter to mid winter around SC. Numerous greenish yellow flowers are grouped in 4-6" long elongated clusters.  Most of the show are the stamens.

Fruit is a pod, 3-4" long, flat, drying reddish brown. Shiny black flattened seeds.

Stems slightly hairy.

Synonyms
Albizia distachya
Albizia lophantha

Misidentification:
Albiza julibrissin is similar in foliage but the flower color and arrangement of the flowers is very different.

Location:
Aptos
Highway 1 heading south between Larkin Valley Rd and Buena Vista Rd in the medium.

Santa Cruz
802 Fair St on the Handley St. side of the house.

Radermachera sinica - China Doll

I recall seeing these trees when I first started riding the neighborhoods and thinking, yikes, I know that plant, its a house plant. Not sure anyone really plants one from a nursery, just like some of the Norfolk Island Pines, they just got too big for a pot and the room they were in. Here's one in front of an apartment that someone must have planted years ago, my guess is the renter needed to move and had no way of taking it with them. Seems very happy to be in the ground, and was not part of the original design.

China doll can reach 100' in their native habitat, but likely topping out at about 30' around here. Definitely a tropical and exotic looking tree. Upright to spreading habit with multiple primary leaders. Blooms late summer.

Leaves are evergreen, opposite, bipinnately compound, 20-30" long, with glossy dark green 2" long narrowly ovate leaflets with an accuminate tip and a long petiole.

Flowers are fragrant, large 3", white trumpet shaped flowers with a yellow throat, looking like white hankies extending above the foliage. They are related to Catalpa.

Fruit is a long narrow capsule that curves. Splits when mature, revealing a thin membrane separating the two halves of the fruit.

Young stems are thick, brown with large white lenticels and big leaf scars.

Older stems keep the scars.

Misidentification:
Leaves might look like Koelreuteria bipinnata?

Location:
Aptos
1800-1827 Sumner Ave

Santa Cruz
2266 Chanticleer -- Really nice specimens, and always blooms.
1480 Creekview Ln.

Gleditsia triacanthos inermis 'Sunole' - Sunburst Honeylocust

This is the golden leaved version of the thornless honey locust tree. More compact than the species and slower growing to 30+ feet. The chief difference being the foliage is yellow in spring and turning light green in summer or looking burnt, but that's a pest problem. Horrible pest problem here, Pod Gall Midge.

Leaves are similar to the other cultivars except they are light yellow early spring, turning light green by mid summer. Still the same mixture of pinnate and compound pinnate leaves depending on the rate of growth. 

Here is a shot of a bad infestation of the midge.

Really all the other parts of the tree are more or less the same as the species and other cultivars of Gleditsia.

'Suncole' seems to be the proper cultivar name but most people use the trademarked name Sunburst.

Misidentification:
Robinia pseudoacacia 'Frisia' perhaps. The other golden foliaged "locust" has larger leaflets than Gleditisa. Neither are really common.

Location:
Aptos
Soquel Dr and Hardin Way - Corner

Soquel
4831 Soquel Dr

Santa Cruz
West Marine parking lot

Gleditsia triacanthos 'Inermis' - Thornless Honey Locust

The thornless honey locust is a deciduous fast growing medium to large tree with an open spreading crown growing to 40 feet or more.

Decent but not great fall color. One of the first trees to go dormant and one of the last to leaf out, what a slacker.

The foliage is alternate, pinnately or bi-pinnatley (sometimes on the same leaf) compound, 6-10" long. Leaflets are small, about an inch long and half that wide with crenate margins. Medium to dark green in color. 

Bipinnately compound leaf below.

Like many in the pea family they have a swollen petiole base called a pulvinus.

Leaflets are small, 1" x 1/2" with crenate margins.

Stems are greenish-brown, zig-zag, and have swollen nodes. No terminal bud. Actually called a pseudoterminal bud. You can see the stub below. At some point the plant stops growing and the stem dies back to some bud rather than forming a true terminal like many plants.

Plants are monoecious resulting in male and female plants (however like Jurassic Park some flowers will find a way to have all the parts.) Flowers not showy. Males in 2" long clusters, females in few flowered clusters.

The cultivated cultivars are from the variety inermis, which means no thorns, but I love thorns. Have a look at these. The specific epithet is triacanthos meaning three parted thorn. What a cool tree with thorns.  

Fruit is a large pod, green turning dark brown. Very twisted and very hard. We don't seem the very often as all the cultivars planted and grown are males.  'Sunburst' is a popular cultivar with golden foliage, I can't identify any of the others by sight.  

Misidentification:
With so many trees with pinnately compound leaves they all look alike to my students. Several keys, small crenate margins on the leaflets, the stems are zig zag and quite often you will find both pinnnate and bipinnate leaves on the same tree, often the same branch.

Location:
Aptos
Soquel Dr across from Twins Palms Dr

Santa Cruz 
River St. In the parking lot at the Patagonia Outlet Store
Front St. across from Trader Joes is a long line of them.

Scotts Valley
Shopping center at corner of Mt Hermon Dr and Graham Hill.