Occupying 37 acres at the top of a steep hill near the center of town, Buena Vista Park is the oldest official park in San Francisco, originally designated as Park Hill in 1867. Considered the city’s most wooded park, its slopes contain one of the few remaining natural groves of coast live oaks in the city. On yet another gorgeous sunny day in February, we toured the winding street that marks the western, southern, and eastern edges of the park. Buena Vista Avenue offers a glimpse of elegance in its large and beautiful homes and apartment buildings, each with stunning views across the street to the forest peak that is Buena Vista Park. The avenue also happens to present an array of distinctive trees along the way.

This walk follows the full loop of Buena Vista Avenue. Starting at Buena Vista Avenue West and Haight Street (a few steps east of Central Avenue), the walk heads uphill on the right side of Buena Vista, takes a quick dip down Waller Street, then back to Buena Vista, and continues around Buena Vista Avenue West and Buena Vista Avenue East, back to Haight Street. From there, the walk leads west on Haight to Central Avenue, across the street from the start of the walk. This walk is about a mile and a half long, and involves both uphill and downhill segments.

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

Our trio of tree geeks responsible for this tour is the same: Mike Sullivan, author of Trees of San Francisco, Jason Dewees (author of Designing with Palms) and Richard Turner (retired editor of Pacific Horticulture).

Buena Vista Avenue West, Haight to Waller, west side

1. 969 Buena Vista Cabbage tree or tī koūka in Māori (Cordyline australis), New Zealand

2. 72 Central Olive (Olea europaea), Mediterranean Basin (tree is between 935 and 921 Buena Vista; this is the back of a property on Central)

Three pollarded London plane trees (Platanus x acerifolia), — Three pollarded London plane trees (*Platanus* x *acerifolia*),

3. 901 Buena Vista London plane tree (Platanus x acerifolia), hybrid of Eastern USA species and European species (3 pollarded trees on Buena Vista and more on Waller). To “pollard” a tree means to cut it repetitively, year after year, at the same joint - not every tree can handle this, but London plane trees react by creating a knobby ending that some (not all…) find aesthetically pleasing.

Waller Street, Buena Vista Avenue to Central, north side

4. 1118 Waller Lemon bottlebrush (Callistemon citrinus), Eastern Australia (several trees in a row)

Waller Street, Central to Buena Vista, south side

(The tour wraps around the north and southeast sides of Walden House, which fills the triangular block; the official address is 815 Buena Vista Avenue West.)

5. 815 Buena Vista Silver dollar tree or Argyle apple (Eucalyptus cinerea), SE Australia (tree is on Waller, just east of Central; note the silvery leaves)

6. 815 Buena Vista Peppermint willow (Agonis flexuosa), Southwest Australia (tree is on Waller, just east of #5 above)

7. 815 Buena Vista Kōhūhū (Pittosporum tenuifolium), New Zealand (tree is on Waller, a few yards east of #6)

8. 815 Buena Vista Blackwood acacia (Acacia melanoxylon), SE Australia (tree is on Waller, a few yards east of #7; there are many blackwoods in this area, many of them seedlings of the oldest trees.)

9. 815 Buena Vista Coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), California native! (tree is on Waller near Buena Vista; this undoubtedly grew from a jay-planted acorn from the native grove within the park across the street)

Buena Vista Avenue West, Waller to Central, north side

10. 815 Buena Vista English holly (Ilex aquifolium), Eurasia and North Africa (tree is on the southeast side of Walden House, near Waller)

11. 815 Buena Vista Hollywood juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Torulosa’ or ‘Kaizuka’), East Asia (a row of well-pruned trees is on the southeast side of Walden House, near Central)

Buena Vista Avenue West, Central to Frederick, north and west side

12. 783 Buena Vista Persian lime (Citrus x latifolia), horticultural form of South and Southeast Asian species

13. 777 Buena Vista After Dark peppermint willow (Agonis flexuosa ‘Jervis Bay Afterdark’), Southwest Australian cultivar (often less vigorous than the green-leafed species)

Chinese windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) — Chinese windmill palm (*Trachycarpus fortunei*)

14. 771 Buena Vista Purple-leaf plum (Prunus cerasifera), Eurasia (formerly San Francisco’s most planted street tree)

15. 755 Buena Vista Red-flowering gum (Corymbia ficifolia), Southwest Australia

16. 731 Buena Vista Cabbage tree (Cussonia spicata), South Africa

17. 715 Buena Vista Chinese windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei), China (these two trees have been “skinned:” the fuzzy leaf bases have been pruned off to reveal the ringed trunks; for comparison, note the unskinned specimen of the same species in front of the next house)

Buena Vista Avenue West, Frederick to Java, west side

18. 639 Buena Vista Karo (Pittosporum crassifolium), New Zealand

19. 635 Buena Vista Dragon tree (Dracaena draco), Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Madeira, and W Morocco (cool tree, this is a rare tree in San Francisco, and this specimen is a “city champion”: the largest of its kind in San Francisco)

20. 635 Buena Vista Hopseed tree (Dodonaea viscosa), native throughout tropical and subtropical parts of the world, and most commonly seen in its purple-leafed form

Buena Vista Avenue West, Java to Upper Terrace, west side

21. 585 Buena Vista Elegant water gum (Tristaniopsis laurina ‘Elegant’), Eastern Australia

22. 525 Buena Vista Butterspoon tree (Cunonia capensis), South Africa (very uncommon in San Francisco; note the curious leaf buds)

23. 525 Buena Vista Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), southeastern USA (2 trees)

24. 501 Buena Vista Mediterranean fan palm (Chamaerops humilis), West Mediterranean Basin (northernmost natural range of any palm in the world)

Buena Vista Avenue East, Upper Terrace to Park Hill, south side

25. 485 Buena Vista Myoporum or ngaio in Māori (Myoporum laetum), New Zealand (this species is dying all over San Francisco, due to an insect pest called thrips; note that the leaves are poisonous)

26. 455 Buena Vista Victorian box (Pittosporum undulatum), Eastern Australia

27. 447 Buena Vista Mayten (Maytenus boaria), Chile

28. 423 Buena Vista Cajeput tree (Melaleuca quinquenervia), Eastern Australia (two trees; feel the spongy bark)

28b. 415 Buena Vista Port Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), Southwest Oregon and Northwest California (this is the twin-trunked coniferous tree just inside the fence; the branchlets droop)

29. across the street Coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), a California native! (tree is across the street)

**The walk passes the front of the old St Joseph’s Hospital, which was turned into the Park Hill condominiums in the early 1990s**

[30 not used]

31. 351 Buena Vista Kapuka (Griselinia littoralis), New Zealand (a city champion: the largest of this species in San Francisco)

31b. 351 Buena Vista Chinese fan palms (Livistona chinensis), Japan and Taiwan (the young palms midway along the Park Hill drive, inside the gate; these are the only ones we know of in San Francisco; watch these rare trees as they grow up)

32. 351 Buena Vista Silver dollar gum (Eucalyptus polyanthemos), Eastern Australia (a row of four trees)

33. 351 Buena Vista European weeping birch (Betula pendula), Eurasia and North Africa (not usually well-adapted to San Francisco)

Park Hill Avenue, south of Buena Vista, west side

34. 351 Buena Vista Australian tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum), southeast Australia (trees are on Park Hill, above the wall and fence; note their wonderfully contorted trunks)

35. 351 Buena Vista New Zealand Christmas tree, pōhutukawa in Māori (Metrosideros excelsa), New Zealand (several trees are along Park Hill)

Buena Vista Avenue East, Park Hill to Buena Vista Terrace, southeast side

36. 267 Buena Vista Indian laurel fig (Ficus microcarpa ‘Nitida’), South Asia (these street trees have been beautifully pruned into a “lifted” hedge, or a hedge on stilts)

37. 259 Buena Vista Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana), San Diego County, CA (this long-needled pine is across the street in Buena Vista Park; though adaptable to cultivation, this is the rarest pine species in the world)

38. 253 Buena Vista Washington thorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum) Eastern USA (row of street trees from here to Buena Vista Terrace; beware of the long thorns on the branches)

39. 253 Buena Vista Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), Big Sur to Southwest Oregon; CA coastal native (tallest tree species in the world)

40. 215 Buena Vista Grapefruit tree (Citrus x paradisi), hybrid of two Southeast Asian species: sweet orange and pomelo (within the yard to the west)

41. 201 Buena Vista Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis), Canary Islands, Spain

a row of Mexican fan palms (Washingtonia robusta), with the financial district in the background — a row of Mexican fan palms (*Washingtonia robusta*), with the financial district in the background

Duboce Avenue, Buena Vista to Alpine Terrace, both sides

42. 5 Buena Vista Terrace Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta), Baja California and Sonora, Mexico

Buena Vista, Duboce to Adah’s Staircase (Waller), east side

43. 181 Buena Vista Himalayan white birch (Betula utilis var. jacquemontii), Western Himalayas

44. 171 Buena Vista Princess tree (Tibouchina urvilleana), Southern Brazil (usually a shrub, sometimes becoming a tree; notable for its intense purple flowers; loves San Francisco!)

45. 141 Buena Vista Italian bay tree (Laurus nobilis), Mediterranean Basin (this is the bay leaf of culinary value; crush a leaf to smell it)

Adah’s Staircase (Waller Street), east of Buena Vista, north side

46. 25 Buena Vista Shamel ash (Fraxinus uhdei), Mexico (tree is a few yards down the steep sidewalk on the south side the building)

Buena Vista, Adah’s Staircase to Haight, east side

47. 21 Buena Vista Italian buckthorn (Rhamnus alaternus), Mediterranean Basin (not a tree; usually a large shrub)

48. 15 Buena Vista Monterey cypress (Hesperocyparis macrocarpa), Carmel, CA (four trees on the property line)

49. 11 Buena Vista Norfolk Island pine (Araucaria heterophylla), Norfolk Island, South Pacific (this is the distinctive “Christmas tree” in the yard to the east of the building)

50. 1 Buena Vista Brazilian pepper tree (Schinus terebinthifolius), Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay

**Cross Haight Street and head west along the north side of the street**

Haight Street, Baker to Central, north side

51. 1 Baker Brisbane box (Lophostemon confertus), Eastern Australia (tree is on Haight)

52. 1150 Haight Sweetshade tree (Hymenosporum flavum), Eastern Australia

This walk ends at Haight and Central, across the street from its beginning.

Our regular commercial: This walking tour was organized by Mike Sullivan, author of The Trees of San Francisco and webmaster of www.sftrees.com; Jason Dewees, horticulturist at Flora Grubb Gardens and author of Designing with Palms; and Richard Turner, retired editor of Pacific Horticulture magazine . You can follow Mike and Jason on their tree-themed Instagram pages at @sftreeguy and @loulufan. Richard edited another great book on San Francisco trees: Elizabeth McClintock’s Trees of Golden Gate Park. If you’re a tree enthusiast, buy all three books!