We return to the neighborhood north of the Panhandle (NOPA) for our first walk in several months. With Covid declining, the three tree geeks have been traveling to various parts of the country and the world—always studying the trees we come across. Our previous NOPA tour covered blocks east of Masonic Avenue, this tour covers “NOPA West”.

As we have often commented, the enthusiasm with which we are greeted by neighbors as we chalk out the tour is incredibly gratifying. On this particular Halloween Sunday, we were joined by NOPA residents Alex and Leah and their infant son Corwin for almost the full tour; all but Corwyn had lots of questions for us about San Francisco’s trees, and we were happy to answer them.

This decidedly flat neighborhood is filled with some of the city’s most frequently planted trees. We found a number of trees that were the biggest or best specimens in the city, and a few that are the only specimens of their kind in town.

An important part of the walk was along Fell Street, as it borders the northern edge of the Panhandle, where we pointed out a number of exceptional trees. The Panhandle was the first portion of Golden Gate Park to be planted with trees in the 1870s. While the western end of the Park was planted with dune grasses, wind-tolerant shrubs, and eventually trees that were intended to hold the sand and slow the winds, this eastern extension of the Park was more protected from the winds and could be planted with an array of trees that were then considered experimental. Among the trees that thrived are the giant blue gums (Eucalyptus globulus), from southeast Australia, and two native California conifers from the Carmel area: Monterey cypress (Hesperocyparis macrocarpa) and Monterey pine (Pinus radiata). Some of those oldest trees can still be seen in the Panhandle.

Alex, Leah and Corwin - our tree-curious NOPA guests for the tour!

We begin the walk at the southwest corner of Cole and Hayes streets, move down Cole to Fell Street, head west on Fell for one block to Shrader Street, and then turn north to Hayes. At Hayes, the walk heads east to Cole, then north on Cole to Grove Street, east on Grove to Clayton Street, south on Clayton to Hayes, east on Hayes to Ashbury Street, south on Ashbury to Fell, and back west on Fell to Cole. The tour ends at Cole and Fell, one block south of its beginning. This walk is about one and a half miles in length.

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 28. White arrows on the pavement provide directions whenever a turn is needed.

Our trio of tree geeks responsible for this tour 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.

Cole Street, Hayes to Fell, west side

1. 207 Cole Olive (Olea europaea), Mediterranean Basin

Gold medallion tree (*Cassia leptophylla*) - San Francisco’s biggest and best!

2. 227 Cole Gold medallion tree (Cassia leptophylla), Brazil (city champion: biggest and best specimen in San Francisco)

Fell Street, Cole to Shrader, north side and in the Panhandle

3. 2010 Fell California bay (Umbellularia californica), Oregon and CA (large tree across the street in the Panhandle; one of the largest in the city; long draping branches; crush a leaf to release the powerful odor)

4. 2030 Fell Queensland kauri (Agathis robusta), northeast Australia (this is the tall narrow tree in the lawn across the street in the Panhandle; uncommonly planted except in botanical collections; tallest specimen in the city outside of the SF Botanical Garden; three young ones have been added nearby in recent years)

5. 2040 Fell Monterey cypress (Hesperocyparis macrocarpa), Carmel, CA (one of the three most commonly planted trees in Golden Gate Park and the Panhandle)

6. 2058 Fell Blackwood acacia (Acacia melanoxylon), southeastern Australia (one of the largest specimens in the city, possibly a City champion)

7. Fell at Shrader Italian alder (Alnus cordata), Italy and Corsica (several evergreen trees opposite the end of Shrader within the Panhandle; we think one is the largest in the city)

Shrader Street, Fell to Hayes, east side

Freeman maple (*Acer* x *freemanii*) (photo credit Leah Drake)

8. 2098 Fell Freeman maple (Acer x freemanii), hybrid of Acer rubrum and Acer saccharinum, both from eastern North America (tree is on Shrader)

9. 2098 Fell Asian dogwood (Cornus species), Asia (this may be one of the rarest trees in the city; it is similar to Cornus capitata, but has larger, more leathery leaves, and possibly the largest fruits of any dogwood). We were excited to find this one - see a website about this tree here.

10. Shrader, Fell to Hayes Mayten (Maytenus boaria), Chile (a row of trees almost the full length of the block)

Hayes Street, Shrader to Cole, south side

11. 2185 Hayes New Zealand Christmas tree, pōhutukawa in Māori (Metrosideros excelsa), New Zealand (2 large trees and 1 smaller tree)

12. 2151 Hayes Australian willow or wilga (Geijera parviflora), east and southeast Australia (this tree prefers the warmth of the eastern parts of the city)

13. 2145 Hayes Kwanzan flowering cherry (Prunus serrulata ‘Kwanzan’), east Asia (tree was grafted at shoulder height, hence the change in trunk diameter; watch for the big pink flowers in April)

Ginkgo (*Ginkgo biloba*) (photo credit Leah Drake)

14. 2125 Hayes Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), China (leaves are just beginning to turn gold; these deciduous trees tend to drop their golden leaves all at one time, making cleanup easier)

15. 2115 Hayes Marina strawberry tree (Arbutus X ‘Marina’), hybrid of 2 Mediterranean species (first introduced in San Francisco)

Cole Street, Hayes to Grove, west side

16. 151 Cole Victorian box (Pittosporum undulatum), eastern Australia (intensely fragrant flowers in cyles throughout the year, peaking February-April)

Primrose tree (*Lagunaria patersonii*) (photo credit Leah Drake)

17. 143 Cole Primrose tree (Lagunaria patersonii), Australia and south Pacific Islands

18. 2111 Grove Elegant water gum (Tristaniopsis laurina ‘Elegant’), eastern Australia (row of 3 trees, thoughtfully pruned to maintain a manageable size)

Grove Street, Cole to Clayton, south side

19. 2049 Grove Red-flowering gum (Corymbia ficifolia), southwest Australia (3 beautiful trees; usually flowers in summer, but many in the city are flowering now)

Silver dollar gum (*Eucalyptus polyanthemos*) (photo credit Leah Drake)

20. 2058 Grove Silver dollar gum (Eucalyptus polyanthemos), eastern Australia (this specimen has been carefully and effectively pruned to remain below the overhead utility cables, resulting in an unusual habit for this typically upright tree)

Clayton Street, Grove to Hayes, west side

21. 137 Clayton Indian laurel fig (Ficus microcarpa ‘Nitida’), south Asia (commonly planted throughout the neighborhood and the city)

Grove Street, Clayton to Ashbury, north side

22. 1980 Grove Purple-leaf plum (Prunus cerasifera), Eurasia (formerly San Francisco’s most planted street tree; it often loses its leaves before summer’s end)

23. 1960 Grove Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), eastern North America (tallest deciduous tree in North America)

Ashbury Street, Grove to Hayes, east side

24. 230 Ashbury Bailey’s acacia (Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea’), eastern Australia (one of the finest specimens in town of this purple-leafed form; yellow flowers early in the year)

25. 1790 Fell Red ironbark (Eucalyptus sideroxylon), east and southeast Australia (2 trees at the south end of Ashbury; sadly, the tree at the north end of the block was badly damaged in the recent powerful storm)

Fell Street, Ashbury to Clayton, north side

26. 1846 Fell Brisbane box (Lophostemon confertus), eastern Australia (the most common tree along the north side of Fell, alongside the Panhandle)

Fell Street, Clayton to Cole, north side

27. 1900 Fell Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), Big Sur to southwest Oregon; CA coastal native (2 trees across the street within the Panhandle; tallest tree species in the world)

Cole Street, just north of Fell, east side

28. 1994 Fell Allspice magnolia (Magnolia x ‘Allspice’), a hybrid of two Asian species; on warm days, the flowers release a delightful fragrance)

This walk ends at the corner of Fell and Cole, one block south of its beginning at Hayes and Cole.

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.