The red flowering gum (Corymbia ficifolia) is, in my opinion, San Francisco’s iconic tree. There’s no other tree that puts out such a show from July to October - massive inflorescences of red, orange, pink or white flowers that cover the entire crown of the tree. I still remember my brother Mark visiting from upstate New York a few years ago - as we passed a red gum in the Mission, he turned to me and said “Wow - what’s THAT tree”?! And the tree absolutely loves our cool coastal Mediterranean climate, very much like its home in southwestern Australia, near Perth. You won’t find many red gums in Walnut Creek or Concord, but they thrive in San Francisco.

Another reason to be patriotic about this tree in San Francisco: the largest red gum in the United States is in the St. Francis Wood neighborhood, at the corner of Monterey Boulevard and Junipero Serra Boulevard. In fact, most of Monterey Boulevard in St. Francis Wood are lined with towering red gums.

So it’s very sad that the City has stopped planting these magnificent trees - almost none have been planted in the last decade. Why? Because they have very wide trunks, and require a big sidewalk cut, meaning that there are fewer spots that are well suited for them than smaller trees. I suspect (now that the City is responsible for street tree maintenance) it may also have to do with the expense of maintaining these trees as they mature - red gums can get very big, and are more expensive to prune and maintain than smaller trees. I’ve noticed that the we’re seeing more and more maple trees on our streets (familiar to my brother Mark), but our urban forest is gradually losing some of the color that makes San Francisco special.

I believe in “right tree in the right place”, so red gums doesn’t belong everywhere. But there’s no reason to stop planting this amazing, beautiful, iconic, San Francisco-loving tree entirely. There are plenty of places in the City with enough room for Corymbia ficifolia. Let’s not give up on this this magnificent tree! Help me nag the Department of Public Works and Friends of the Urban Forest to restart the planting of one of our best street trees!

Because otherwise, it’s a long goodbye to our red flowering gums - we’ll see fewer and fewer each year, and our urban forest will look a little bit more like my brother Mark’s green (but a bit dull) upstate New York forest.

Monterey Boulevard median in St. Francis Wood