This week’s tour is in the Bayview District, centering on the Quesada Gardens, a neighborhood volunteer project that filled a median with an array of trees, shrubs, flowers, and edible plants. The tour begins at The African Outlet store on the corner of 3rd Street and Quesada Avenue and ends at Revere and 3rd streets, one block to the south. Our trio is the same: Jason Dewees (author of Designing with Palms), Richard Turner (retired editor of Pacific Horticulture), and I’m Mike Sullivan, author of Trees of San Francisco.

The walk heads west(ish) on Quesada Avenue to Newhall Street, then south(ish) on Newhall almost to Bayview Street, then returns to Revere Street, and heads east(ish) on Revere to 3rd Street, one block south of the tour’s beginning.

Numbered trees are labeled with common and scientific names and country of origin, all written in white chalk on the sidewalk; accompanying numbers, in blue, run from 1 to 32. White arrows on the pavement provide directions whenever a turn is needed.

Note: Some of us plant geeks have difficulty with simple arithmetic, so you may notice that occasional numbers have been repeated and others left out. We’re working on it.

3rd Street at Quesada, NW corner

1. 4942 - 3rd London plane tree (Platanus x acerifolia), hybrid of E USA species and European species (one of the finest specimens of this tree in SF, where it often does not look this good)

Rubber trees (Ficus elastica ‘Decora’), S & SE Asia (the several large leafed plants in the plantings in the well-planted shade garden under the canopy of the plane tree

Quesada Avenue, 3rd to Newhall, north side

Cook pine (Araucaria columnaris) in the Quesada median — Cook pine (*Araucaria columnaris*) in the Quesada median

2. 4942 - 3rd Chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolia), E Asia (in the median on Quesada, opposite the rear of The African Outlet)

3. 4942 - 3rd Cook pine (Araucaria columnaris), New Caledonia (in the median on Quesada, opposite the rear of The African Outlet)

4. 1716 Quesada Boxleaf azara (Azara microphylla), Chile

5. 1720 Quesada Crabapple (Malus cultivar), Japan

6. 1730 Quesada Purple-leaf plum (Prunus cerasifera), Eurasia (formerly SF’s most planted tree)

7. 1730 Quesada Golden locust (Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Frisia’), E USA

several Canary Island date palms (Phoenix canariensis) in the Quesada median — several Canary Island date palms (*Phoenix canariensis*) in the Quesada median

8. 1730 Quesada Yucca (Yucca gigantea), variegated cultivar, Mexico to C America (planted 26 years ago)

9. 1732 Quesada Flowering cherry (Prunus serrulata), Japan

10. 1732 Quesada Fig tree (Ficus carica), Mediterranean Basin (in the median; deeply lobed leaves; edible fruits!)

11. 1742 Quesada Weeping bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis), E Australia

12. 1748 Quesada River she-oak (Casuarina cunninghamiana), Australia

13. 1752 Quesada Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), SE USA (2 trees)

14. 1760 Quesada Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis), Canary Islands (numerous trees in the median along the full length of the Quesada Gardens)

jacaranda (jacaranda mimosifolia) closeup of flowers

15. 1762 Quesada Blackwood acacia (Acacia melanoxylon), SE Australia

16. 1778 Quesada English hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata), Europe

17. 1786 Quesada Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia), Argentina, Bolivia

**Note the hand-painted tiled steps and beautiful murals at the top end of Quesada Avenue. The mural on the right honors the late Karl Paige, who worked with Annette Smith to initiate the neighborhood project that resulted in the median’s Quesada Gardens.

Newhall Street, Quesada to Revere, east side

17. 1600 block of Newhall Primrose tree (Lagunaria patersonii), Australia & S Pacific Islands (across the street, running the full block alongside the Bridgeview Teaching & Learning Garden, a project of the Quesada Gardens Initiative)

18. 1645 Newhall Lemon bottlebrush (Callistemon citrinus), E Australia

Karl Paige, the founder of the Quesada Garden

Tree #19 is at the far end of the next block of Newhall. After viewing it return to Revere and head downhill.

Newhall Street, Revere to Bayview, east side

19. 1751 Newhall Japanese pagoda tree (Styphnolobium japonicum, syn. Sophora japonica), China (the biggest specimen in SF)

Revere Street, Newhall to 3rd, south side

20. 1799 Revere Windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei), China (two trees with hairy trunks)

King palm (Archontophoenix cunninghamii), E Australia (a cluster of 5 clean trunks)

21. 1791 Revere Port Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), SW Oregon & NW California

22. 1783 Revere Islay (Prunus ilicifolius), SF native tree!

23. 1780 Revere Snow-in-summer tree (Melaleuca linariifolia), E Australia (tree is across the street)

24. 1765 Revere Japanese cryptomeria (Cryptomeria japonica), Japan (known as “sugi” in Japan)

26. 1733 Revere Silver linden (Tilia tomentosa), SE Europe to Turkey

27. 1729 Revere Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), West Coast & Rocky Mountains to S Mexico (needle leaves, a CA native tree!)

China doll tree (Radermachera sinica), China & Taiwan (tree with much - divided leaves, growing up through the Douglas-fir)

28. 1721 Revere Italian bay tree (Laurus nobilis), Mediterranean Basin

29. 1717 Revere Northern California walnut (Juglans hindsii), Northern California valleys. Most edible walnuts grown in CA were grafted onto the roots of this native species)

Please cross the street carefully.

30. 1716 Revere Mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin), Iran

31. 1714 Revere Golden rain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata), China & Korea

32. Revere Brisbane box (Lophostemon confertus), E Australia

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), China

This walking tour was organized by Mike Sullivan, author of The Trees of San Francisco (if you like this tour, there are 12 more neighborhood tree tours in Mike’s book), Jason Dewees, horticulturist at Flora Grubb Gardens and author of Designing with Palms; and Richard Turner, retired editor of Pacific Horticulture magazine and editor of Trees of Golden Gate Park. If you’re a tree enthusiast, buy all three books! You can follow Mike (@sftreeguy) and Jason (@loulufan) on Instagram.