Ashlie Zinn's Street Tree Project

Among the street trees I observed, if I had to choose one to use as toilet paper I would choose to use leaves from the American Sycamore. Although the Avocado Tree has larger leaves, the leaves of the sycamore are large enough, and much softer and malleable in comparison.
All of the street trees that I observed positively contributed to the feel of the neighborhood. I imagine my experience to be much less pleasant had they not been there. They created shade, provided a sense of enclosure, and helped me to feel engaged with the nature observed in the distant surrounding hills.
A pro to planting non native plants in our cities is that they add interest and allow us to admire plants that we otherwise would not be able to. For example, Ginkgo biloba is native to southeast Asia, but does very well here and so it is planted and admired throughout our California cities. Alternatively, this can distort perceptions of native environments through excessive quantity and diversity of non native species as well as unsustainable maintenance requirements like use of species with high water needs in drought prone environments.

Observed street trees:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42723105
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42723439
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42721957
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42721702
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42722342

Posted on April 21, 2020 02:51 AM by azinn