Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden

In my recent post about the Rainbow Eucalyptus, I mentioned how the trees I found were opposite UCLA's Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden. Well, needless to say, after wallowing in the excitement of the Eucalyptus', I explored the Garden to my great enjoyment. It does not cover a large area, but because it is set in a hollow with paths winding about between dense trees, it seems much larger than it actually is.

The garden - started in 1929 - has undergone many changes over the years under different Directors and has been widely used for experimentation in growing tropical trees and plants. For instance, it was one of the first places in LA to grow different varieties of Eucalyptus trees. In 1971 it was given Mildred E. Mathias' name, she having been a long-term Director and a botanical pioneer, researching into and introducing new flowers and trees to the country- as well as being an early environmentalist.

It is wonderful to find yourself stepping off the road and suddenly plunging into this exotic world. How lucky UCLA students are to have this shady refuge on their doorstep. What a delightful place to- as I did- have a picnic lunch...

One of the first trees I came across was in fact another Rainbow Eucalyptus- Eucalyptus deglupta- but the bark of this one was, at this time, more subdued than the ones I had been photographing on the street:


Another beautiful Eucalyptus there was a Eucalyptus grandis, or Rose Gum:


And when I first entered the garden I got really excited by a grove of Eucalyptus maculata- or Spotted Gum- the patterns of their peeling bark being like a black-and-grey version of the London Plane tree:



And then I discovered another Eucalyptus, with a very different bark- Eucalyptus botryoides, or Southern mahogany:



This next tree could not be mistaken for a Eucalyptus! It is an Agonis flexuosa, or Willow myrtle:


Now I come to a tree that astonished me: it is yet another variety of Ficus tree, Ficus racemosa, or Cluster Fig. What amazed me was the way the figs grow out of the bark instead of on the ends of branches. To me, they looked as if they were the work of a Designer, who had scattered them onto the surface of a tree for a shop window display!




And here is another Ficus- Ficus gnapthalocarpa, or Sandpaper Fig. This time it was the geometric pattern of the bark that caught my eye:


It was the crazily peeling bark that attracted me to this next tree too- a Melaleuca styphelioides, or Prickly Paperbark:



I am always fascinated by Palm trees bark formations, however often I see them. First, a Brahea armata, or Blue Hesper Palm:


Secondly, a Butia capitata, or Jelly Palm:


Arriving down at the bottom of the hollow, beside a stream was this collection of Bamboos. When I first looked at them, I was upset that they had been so covered in name carvings- then it occurred to me that they actually looked like some wonderful Egyptian sculpture- or the spines of antique, leather-bound books. Sad as it was that they had not been respected as living organisms, at least they were still beautiful...


Here are some more- uncontaminated- bamboos:


And here is a group of the many Turtles that bask in the sun on the shores of the stream:


Finally, I took a look up into the sky, to the tops of Palm trees and Dawn Redwoods:



I have only mentioned the particular trees that caught my eye, but there is so much more to see- it is well worth a visit...

The King Palm

The King Palm- Archontophoenix Alexandrae- is a native of the rainforest regions of North East Australia but seems to flourish in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. It can grow from 50- 80 feet high with a spread of 10-15 feet of its pinnate leaves, the single grey trunk being attractively ringed.

When I first became aware of these elegant trees, I was totally enchanted by their exotic "chandeliers" of flowers, on coral-like stems, so was not surprized to learn that they were named as the King of Palms:







These ivory or magenta flowers are succeeded by wonderful cascades of brilliant red berries:








I love their bright, lime green crownshafts, speckled with reddish-brown:



And eventually the brown overtakes the green...


Palm trees may not be as environmentally indispensable as many other trees (after all, they are officially PLANTS rather than trees) but to me they are certainly visually indispensable...

Santa Monica Sunsets

One thing I regret now that I am in LA rather than in Santa Monica is the accessibility of seeing the sunsets over the Ocean. Although it takes no time to get there, I am usually in a hurry to return home before the rush hour traffic, which means I miss the sunsets. However, I have made a point of catching them a couple of times recently so feel it is appropriate to end the year with the cliche of the sun going out of sight... at any rate, like most people, I love sunsets!

I will start with some images taken a few weeks ago, first walking towards Palisades Park:


And here in the Park is one of the Pink Melaleucas, framing some palms:



Now, just the palms against the sky and the ocean:




Then I became aware of the New Moon, framed by palms:


And here, just the Moon above the ocean:


Now just the sky and ocean...


Finally, to end the year on an up-beat note, here are a couple of more fragile, optimistic sunsets taken this week:

LA Trees on December Walk

And now it is December...and the acceleration to Christmas is in full swing. However, simultaneously the Fall is taking place here in little pockets among the evergreens. Being in Southern California, one does miss the total dramatic effect of the changing seasons, so one gets very excited by these vignettes...

This morning when I took my granddaughter Violet to the nearby Playground, there was an amazing blue, blue sky and the reds and yellows of the occasional Maple and London Plane trees were exhilarating. It is never that easy to concentrate on taking photos when looking after a baby, so in the late afternoon I went out alone with a camera. By now, of course, there was a totally different light and those particular trees were no longer exciting - but that's the wonderful thing about changing light, you always find that something else now looks exciting, the unexpected...

At the start of my walk, the evening sun's reflected "glow" was burnishing the leaves:






And now it was lighting up the limbs of the trees too:



Next, as I walked down onto the Eastern side of a hill, the glow was no longer on the trees, but was reflected on the Eastern sky, the trees becoming silhouettes:




I then turned South-Westwards, and here was another sky. I have photographed these Palm trees many times against a clear blue sky, so was elated to see them in this evening light:




My next excitement was seeing a tiny slither of upside-down (to us from the UK) new moon, behind the trees:



And then a shaggy, bird-like Palm:


Finally, a completely different visual experience:- side-walk trees turned into magical Christmas Trees: