
How Did L.A. Become a City of Palms? - ranvir
https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/how-did-la-become-a-city-of-palms-and-other-questions-about-californias-trees
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JacobAldridge
As a recent first time visitor to California, from Australia, the abundant
eucalyptus and jacarandas were a major surprise. Of course the palm-lined
strips in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles were expected, though still impressive
- I hadn't thought to lump those in with the other immigrants.

Thankfully we also got up to Muir Woods (just north of San Francisco) for a
taste of the pre-European flora. Looks to be an interesting book, weaving the
history of the state through the botanical angle.

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fit2rule
I'm Australian, lived in LA for a decade or so .. and my trips around the
Griffith Park area always led me to a particular grove of eucalypts and
jacaranda that always reminded me, very much, of home. There are parts of that
park that could be Australia, imho .. minus the snakes, but plus coyotes and
cougars ..

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TACIXAT
Native Los Angelope, when I visited Australia there were definitely parts
where I was like, this looks like home! I think it was just the eucalyptus,
but it was pretty sweet.

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fit2rule
Its the desert life for us all!

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pingec
In my seaside Mediterranean town many oaks have been cut down and replaced
with palms to give the town a more glamorous look.

Now in those areas there is no shade and during summer they are deserted, the
only moving objects are cars. Some grass and palms among asphalt and concrete
are simply not a good heat moderator. It looks nice on a postcard though ^^.

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strictnein
A related 99% Invisible podcast: [http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/palm-
reading/](http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/palm-reading/)

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bazzargh
On the topic of non-native palms - I only recently learned that most of the
'palms' that are a surprising sight in the UK - eg in Plockton in the north of
Scotland
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plockton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plockton)

... aren't palms at all, but Cabbage Trees, native to New Zealand
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyline_australis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyline_australis))
and they're nothing to do with cabbage either. Probably not news to gardeners
and botanists but I'd always wondered how they got there.

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dbcooper
Reminds me of a piece from the LA Review of Books:

[https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/piety-perversity-
palms-l...](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/piety-perversity-palms-los-
angeles/)

