It’s a little late this year - normally this tree blooms in January in San Francisco. Bailey’s acacia (Acacia baileyana) is a tree from eastern Australia that blooms with striking yellow flowers. It’s the first of our trees to bloom - next will be the plum trees (later in February), then the cherries (March), and even later (April/May) the hawthorns.

As you can see from the partially hidden street sign, this tree is at the corner of 17th and Shrader Streets in the Cole Valley neighborhood.

And it has one more claim to fame - this tree was the one photographed by author and botany professor Matt Ritter for his (fantastic) book “A Californian’s Guide to the Trees Among Us”.