What kind of tree in down town Los Angeles?

[Perry Holbrook]

I'm in down town LA this week, on Figueroa St, near the Staple Center. There are some beautiful trees that line the street. Has a very tight white/light bark, leaves about 2" long,trunk to first limbs about 10 ft. (sorry no pictures.) I thought it was beech. Google says beech grow in the south and east, not west. We have asked several people here what they are. The best answer was a "beside the roader" tree. Anyone from the area know what they are.

Thanks,
Perry

[Ron Kellison]

This is excerpted from an LA city document. Based upon your description of the bark it might be a variety of a London Plane. http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/uesd/uep/products/cufr475_street_trees_LA.pdf

Data collected in 1990 and 1996 for the City’s street tree inventory revealed approximately 670,000 City
managed street trees and 133,000 potential tree sites. The stocking level is 82 percent, indicating moderate
opportunity for new tree planting. Species composition is diverse, with 28 species each comprising more
than 1 percent of the population, and these taken together accounting for 74 percent of all City street trees.
The most abundant species are Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica, 8 percent), Mexican fan palm
(Washingtonia robusta, 7 percent), American sweetgum (Liquidamber styraciflua, 7 percent), Southern
magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora, 6 percent), Indian laurel fig (Ficus microcarpa ‘Nitida’, 5 percent),
camphor (Cinnamomum camphora, 3 percent) and London plane (Platanus acerifolia, 3 percent).
Restricted growing space is reported to be the single most important cause of conflicts between tree roots
and hardscape (McPherson, 2000). In the City of Los Angeles, street trees are located in several planting
site types: open parkways, tree wells, reverse parkways (placing sidewalk adjacent to the back of curb),
unimproved parkways, and in limited cases, raised planters. Thus far, nearly all sidewalk repairs have
occurred in open parkways and tree wells.

[Perry Holbrook]

Indian Laurel Fig, that's it. Thanks. I've really got to start doing better with my web searches!

Perry

[Chip Lindley]

My first guess was, "Money Tree"?? ;-)

[Neil Brooks]

My first guess was, "Money Tree"?? ;-)

And my first guess was .... "silicone" ;)

[Gary Curtis]

On the west side of the city, bordering on Santa Monica, you can find Italian Stone Pines planted on National Blvd. Gorgeous, thick pines with a bushy top.
And starting at the bunch and running east almost to UCLA you'll find the City Tree of Los Angeles in the median on San Vincente Blvd. That is the Flowering Coral Tree.

If you wander the 250 acres of UCLA, most of the trees there have a species name tag posted.