L.A.’s palm trees are dying
Symbols of Southern California are being lost to invasive and natural threats.
Symbols of Southern California are being lost to invasive and natural threats.
Like so many things in Southern California, the palm tree was an import from somewhere else that over time became inextricably symbolic of its adopted home.
But the trees, so identified with the sun-splashed excitement of Los Angeles, are facing a decidedly darker fate. They are dying of fungus and threatened by invasive insects in parks and along streets. And for the most part, the city has chosen to replace them not with new palms but with native trees that are more drought-tolerant and shadier, said Leon Borodinsky, a tree surgeon for the Department of Recreation and Parks.
City officials say they don’t know how many palm trees have been lost. In 1990, a city tally put the number of palms on L.A.’s streets at 75,000. That number has declined, officials said, but they are not sure by how much.
“Over the next 50 years, you will see a great loss in palms. It’s already begun,” said Jared Farmer, the author of “Trees in Paradise.”
The decline in palm trees is part of a larger trend in L.A.’s treescape. In the next five years, the city will lose enough trees to disease and pests that it will take 30 to 50 years to replenish them, Borodinsky said.
The loss of the palms is particularly noticeable because of their prominence in the city’s streetscape.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Los Angeles decorated itself with a diversity of palms to enchant newcomers, Farmer said. The city imported its palm trees from all over the world, since only one species, the California fan palm, is native to the state.
Palm trees flourished in Los Angeles alongside the automobile and expansive freeways. “They came to represent the modern auto-based, decentralized metropolis that is L.A.,” Farmer said.
Hollywood sealed the deal as movies turned the palm tree into an internationally recognized symbol of the sprawling metropolis.
“Hollywood creates this connection between palm trees, celebrities, glamour, sex and extravagant riches,” Farmer said.
A palm tree’s mortal enemy
No threats have proved as deadly to palms as the South American palm weevil and Fusarium fungus. Each can kill a healthy palm tree on its own.
The weevil crossed the border into San Diego from Tijuana in 2011 and is on its way to Los Angeles. It has no natural enemies in California or Mexico, where it has killed hundreds of Canary Island date palms. Fusarium, a native fungus found in California soil, usually attacks palms that are overwatered or planted in soil that is naturally wet. It can also spread on infected pruning tools, such as chainsaws.
The prime target
The Canary Island date palm has suffered the most. Its demise can already be seen in Elysian Park and around Echo Park Lake.
In the 20th century, the Canary Island date palm was a symbol of status, Farmer said. Now, it’s on track to disappear first, according to Donald Hodel, an environmental horticulturist for the University of California.
The tree is the most expensive and desirable species of palm. A mature tree can cost as much as $20,000.
The city as a reluctant hero
In the 1980s, Fusarium fungus started suffocating the Canary Island date palms that form Avenue of the Palms in Elysian Park near Dodger Stadium. The city stepped in to replace the double row of trees in 2014, planting more than 100 palms that cost about $50 each.
Young Chilean wine palms were planted between each 50-foot date palm. As they grow, they fill the space their predecessors will eventually leave empty. Planted three years ago, the new palms are barely knee-high. It will take years for them to show a recognizable trunk.
That solution may not work for the remainder of L.A.’s parks and city streets.
Los Angeles has new problems and priorities, becoming increasingly concerned with urban heat, pollution, water usage and shade.
Unlike most trees, palms don’t alleviate these environmental concerns. They have more in common with grass than trees, so they don’t fight pollution or provide significant shade in the blistering summer heat.
The survivors
There will probably be palm trees in Los Angeles for decades, or even into the next century. Developers and homeowners are likely to continue planting palms on private properties despite the threats the trees face.
And although the city will not replace every palm, it has vowed to maintain trees in areas that are iconic or have historical significance. So far, the city has identified locations in Hollywood and South Park and near downtown.
The death of a star
Though palms once epitomized glamour, they may find a new role in film.
“The great dying of the palms will be useful to Hollywood too,” said Farmer, who is a history professor focused on the North American West.
“They love to show how L.A. is dystopian — the American experiment gone wrong.”
Or perhaps the palm-lined streets that seduce tourists and locals alike could simply fade into memory.
“Landmarks come and landmarks go,” Farmer said.
The palm tree could simply be a 20th century obsession. Find the interactive story at http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-palm-trees-dying-skyline-los-angeles/