[edit: can someone let me know why this post from March is suddenly getting 100s of hits? Must have been a story on Van Ness BRT + trees, but I haven’t seen it. Comment below or send me an email at michaelsullivan415 [at] gmail.com.]

The “bus rapid transit” upgrade to Van Ness Avenue has taken for-ev-er. Planning for the project began in 2004, and it was scheduled for completion in 2012. But after 9 years of delay, the project is finally coming to fruition. And you may have noticed that the most recent development is dozens and dozens of tall, skinny trees that have been planted along the entire length of Van Ness.

Curious about the species? Many people have been guessing eucalyptus, and they’re not far off. The trees are lemon-scented gums - the scientific name is Corymbia citriodora, so technically they’re not Eucalyptus. It’s a tree that we don’t see much in San Francisco; it’s more common in Southern California. It’s a tall, graceful tree from northeastern Australia, notable for its smooth whitish bark.

My personal view is that this tree has the potential to be a big success on Van Ness. If you’d like to see some larger specimens, check out Mission Street just south of Duboce, where there are three or four beautiful lemon-scented gums.

At the moment, the trees are ungainly looking - too tall for their trunk width. There’s a reason for that - the trees were custom-grown for the city, and with the long delays in the Bus Rapid Transit project, they ended up in pots for way too long. We may lose a few to wind as a result, but my hope is that they’ll quickly grow into striking trees that will make us all proud!