Abies grandis - Grand Fir

The Grand fir is another uncommon sight in our warmer climate but, to a conifer lover, a welcome one. Growing up to 250' in its native range, we will likely to see them 50-60' tall by about 15-20' wide. They form a beautiful conical shape. Generally quite dense when young eventually a bit more open. You can see the one on the left is much fuller than the one on the right. Looks like a redwood if you look quickly at the foliage. This planting has two trees, right next to a redwood, and I suspect there was some confusion at planting time or when they were pulled from a nursery. Supposed to be three redwoods?

Leaves are evergreen, spirally arranged, linear, needle-like, 3/4 - 2" long, narrow, bright green upper surface, lower surface with 2 distinct white bands of stomates. The leaves on reproductive branches are very different than lower down on the tree. Those tend to form a very strong "V" shape. This feature is common to most firs and makes this characteristic useless for identification. The lower leaves form a single flat plane with the leaves spreading out sideways. 

The leaves on the top appear to be different lengths, alternating long and short.

Bands of stomates in 2 rows on the lower portion of the leaf.

Stems are yellowish-green initially, persistently smooth, with round depressions where leaves were once attached.

Female cones are found only at the top of trees. Growing 2-4" long, yellowish green or purple green when young turning brown at maturity and like all fir trees, the cones disintegrate on the tree, shedding the seeds, scales and bracts leaving behind only the thin central stalk. Bracts shorter than scales so you don't see them until they hit the ground. In this image you can see the scale on the left has its attached bract on its "back" while the one to the right is not showing a bract.

Male cones are yellow and found on the lower branches.

Bark on trees initially is smooth, gray or silver with horizontal resin blisters, becoming furrowed or flaked with age.

Misidentification:
First, determine that it's a fir and not a spruce. Once you a certain it is a fir, you have to look at how leaves are arranged on the stems and avoid the reproductive ones. Look for the presence or absence of stomatal bands on the upper surfaces, they are always on the lower surface, not the upper for this species. Look up for cones and down for cone scales and bracts.

Not at all easily. I used my trusted Pacific Coast Trees by McMinn and Maino.
Foliage is found in one plane, often called 2 ranked but I like the plane concept, or in 1 dimension. To use a key on these you have to find the resin glands with are inside the leaf, either along the margins or near the main vein. These are shallow and along the margin. To see the resin glands you need a 10X hand lens. Cut the leaf in half crosswise and then carefully squeeze the leaf with your nail while looking for where some resin comes out.

Location:

281 Pebble Beach Drive

Quercus lobata - Valley Oak

What an awesome tree. Can't believe how beautiful these trees look clothed in leaves or even better just showing the amazing branching structure. Scotts Valley and Ben Lomond have the added heat that these trees require to prosper. There are a few closer to the coast but they will not ever get as large as those or the trees seen in the Central Valley. This tree is no longer alive, very sad.

Growing to 80 feet tall with a broad open spreading crown, these trees have massive branches with fantatic bark. The branching pattern is spectacular, with smaller and smaller branched creating a soft outline at the perimeter.

Leaves are deciduous, simple, alternate, obovate, 2-4" long, half that in width, 7-11 rounded lobes that reach at least half way to the midrib, generally deeper. They are light green on the upper surface, lighter below with trichomes (hairs) on the veins and petiole.  

Stems are light brown, ridged, with small very small buds except the terminals. They also have trichomes, giving the stems a tannish color until they fall off.

Male and female flowers are separated, males in catkins, females just behind the apical growing points. Males are easy to see, female not so.

Fruit is an acorn 1-2" long borne singly or in pairs on a short stalk. Mature the first year. The cap is called an involucre or involucral bracts which are modified leaves surrounding the inflorescence. 

Oaks have lots of cool pests, especially those forming galls. Some galls are round, some are star shaped, but all are very interesting to look at and see a relationship between a tree species and insects. I came across an interesting article about how oak experts have a hard time correctly identifying some of the oaks but the insects that create galls do not and experts using the gall can help identify the oak. Spined Turbin gall wasp on this one.

 Bark is light gray with darker fissures, becoming alligator skin like when old.

Misidentification:

Other oaks with rounded lobes. Around here you are not likely to see many others, you might encounter a white oak or a burr oak but they both have much larger leaves.

Location:

Aptos

695 Loma Prieta Dr (maybe)

412 Sumner Dr.

Ben Lomond

Highway 9 Scarborough Hardware Ben Lomond (Dead)

Abies bracteata - Bristlecone Fir

Such a cool native conifer, growing so close to us in it's native Santa Lucia mountain range, and so rare in Santa Cruz landscapes. I have seen it growing nicely in SLO and the pictures below is at Tilden Park. It gets its name from the very long awns on the ends of the cone scales. The tree is an evergreen conifer growing up to 70' tall and 20' wide. Quite a narrow and spire-like shape, full canopy with short lateral branches that weep at the tip. Broad spreading at the base and retaining it's lateral branches at the ground. If you go to Tilden park, especially around the golf course area you will see hundreds planted and lots of and lots of seedlings.

This is the one on Loma Prieta Drive. Rumor has it a huge house is going in and the oak stump is a sign that its happening (5/24/24). The neighbor a few doors down had no idea she has such a rare tree, and was not likely to take it down. Why do odd trees end up almost next door and not anywhere else? There was a California nutmeg (Torreya californica just around the corner years ago but came down.

Leaves (needles) are evergreen, needle like, 1.5 - 2.5 " long, stiff, flat, dark glossy green on the upper surface twisted at the base with a sharply pointed tip. Lower surface has 2 distinct lines of stomates. Leaves appear 2 ranked on lower branches or may be radiating around the stem on vigorous stems.

Cones are held upright on the tops of the trees, They are 2.5 - 3.5" long, almost egg shaped, with long scale tips. Cones are purplish brown at maturity. As with all true firs you will not find full cones on the ground as they mature and fall apart on the tree, unless a squirrel or the wind brought one down. You will find the scales on the ground.

Male cones are small and yellow when mature.

A great characteristic of this tree is the distinct long pointed non resinous buds. Bark is smooth when young, lacking hairs, maturing bark is lightly checked.

Misidentification: The leaves and terminal buds might look doug fir like, but these are way sharper and a bit longer. Obviously look at the ground, you will not find whole cones like a doug fir.

Location: Aptos

507 Loma Prieta Dr, I could not really determine the true address,  I think its across the street from this. While you are there, look at 507 for the Torreya californica (Torreya was removed 2013).

509 Loma Prieta Dr. is the other one.

Acer negundo - Box Elder

The Box Elder is a small to medium sized deciduous tree native to CA and other areas in the US. Loally it can be found growing in riparian areas, generally as an understory tree.  Very fast growing, to a fault actually, to 40-50' tall and as wide, usually with multiple stems forming a broadly spreading habit of mostly impenetrable stems and low hanging branches. Rarely cultivated except in North Dakota, sorry its an old joke.  This is a grove in the Capitola village.

Leaves are opposite, pinnately compound with 3 - 5 leaflets. Leaves are 6-8" long, with 2-3" long leaflets. Leaflets are not symmetrical, in fact if you try to hold them together removing the space between the leaflets they look like a simple leaved maple. Lateral leaflets have a larger tooth or lobe on the outer edge while the terminal leaflet is larger and symmetrical with lobes of equal sizes.

Stems are thin, green with a distinctive waxy coating (glaucous bloom). You can see in the first picture how the wax has rubbed off.

Flowers are in long chains in early spring. Pretty and with interesting pinkish filaments holding the anthers.

Fruit are winged samaras, 1-1.5" long at about 60 degrees. Lots of fruit. Turn brown in winter and may be retained will into the following spring.

This is a newer more popular variegated cultivar 'Flamingo' with a reddish cast to the new growth in the spring.

Not sure why any of them are planted, and the variegated ones always have strong reversions of the variegated stems back to green which soon dominate the tree.

Misidentification:
Look at the opposite, pinnately compound leaves and its location, not likely planted.

Locations:
anywhere native riparian plants are found, along soquel creek, Aptos creek

Three poor variegated specimens are located on Soquel Drive at the intersection with Calabria St across from the fire station. (5/24/24 - Variegation almost gone.)

Arbutus menziesii - Pacific Madrone

The native Madrone is a large evergreen tree, 30-100' tall with an oval shape, or if smaller it might be more rounded and multi-stemmed developing in full sun. One of the best features is the bark, a rich red-orange peeling to expose a greenish wood, very smooth and student have said that the wood feels cool to the touch. The trees are beautiful but they are hard to grow in our urban soils. They prefer soils with excellent drainage.

This is one from the city of Port Angeles. You can see how large it is. (Google Earth it, its on the 200 block of W 8th St near the intersection of S. Cherry St)

This is one at the horticulture department at Cabrillo.

Leaves evergreen, simple, alternate, 3 - 6" long, leathery, elliptical to oval, dark green shiny on the upper surface, grayish on the lower with entire margins.

Falling after the new leaves emerge in the summer. I have seen the tree from a distance and wondered what it was, with what looked like big fruit hanging in the canopy, only to get a close look and see old leaves.

Stems are generally smooth but can be hairy when growing quickly.

Urn-shaped flowers, small about 1/4", white, tip of flower flairing outward. Sometimes pink colorations. Borne in panicles at the ends of the branches. Blooms in the spring only.

Fruit is a fleshy berry, rough outside, 1/2" diameter orange/red. Several black seeds inside.

Beyond beautiful. Bark has so many different seasons, from smooth, to reddish peeling in paper thin strips that sort of curl up and fall off to reveal a yellowish brown bark, to old bark that becomes dark brown and no longer peels, but has loose scales.

You have to love a good disease, these trees get Nattrassia cankers that create a pretty cool looking stem. They don't seem to die, just a bit disfigured.

Even the roots are a beautiful red, though the tree has to be up rooted for you to see this.

Misidentification: Lophostemon has similar looking leaves but not the stem. Both have nice peeling bark, but the older bark is very different and of course the flowers and fruit are very different.

Locations:
Aptos
Cabrillo College Hort department

324 Townsend Dr

Santa Cruz - Wilder St Park

Pinus torryeana - Torrey Pine

The Torrey Pine is a large native evergreen conifer, growing slowly up to 60 tall and almost as wide. The trees have a nice broad conical habit with strong stout upright primary lateral branches. They have a distinctly  bluish cast to the canopy. The Torrey pine is extremely variable in its native habit. Being so close to the coast it might take on a "picturesque" habit.

This native conifer is also very restricted tree in the "wild" and only found natively growing in a very small area in San Diego County and a few islands off the coast. But like others trees from somewhere else, it grows and reseeds nicely here and grows fast in cultivation. There are lots of seedlings in and around Sea Cliff State Park. This image is at the park over looking the ocean.

The evergreen leaves are in 5's, gray-green color, 5-12" long, stout and prickly at the tips. Generally clustered at the tips of stout branches. Persisting 3-4 years.

Cones are oval, dark reddish brown, 4-5" long and almost as wide. They can be very heavy. Takes 3 years to mature. Scales are strongly 4 sided with a prominent recurving spine. Seeds are edible. Cone falls leaving some of the scales behind. This image shows young cones that will be developing later in the season.

These are recently maturing and have not turned brown yet.

Male cones are 1 - 2" long when open, yellow and in clusters at the tips of lower branches

Stout, rough twigs and often sort of a light gray color looking like they have a waxy coating on them.  Short but persistent leaf sheaths.

Bark is gray scaly ridges showing red-brown between the furrows.  It forms rectangular plates.

Misidentification: Count the needles, this is an "odd" 5 needle pine. Most have long skinny cones and soft leaves with non-persistent bundle sheaths. Most five needle pines have smooth bark as well, at least till they are very old.

Locations:
Aptos
Seacliff: At Seacliff State park upper parking lot overlooking the ocean
608 Seacliff Drive has a nice one. (GONE)

Capitola Area
Along Highway 1 in several places. Two on the N bound lanes heading North, just south of the Drive In/Flea market.

Santa Cruz
225 Marnell Ave - Awesome
Heading South from the River St intersection on the right just by the Ocean St exit.
head.
On the golf course in DeLeveaga