I love the strength and stature of a tree. They are the old and wise beings of the plant world. As they grow older their beauty shines in a new way. Some of the Arboretum trees had this sort of beauty.
Pink or Silk Floss Tree
Underneath this tree you can see young peacock fowl. This Ceiba speciosa belongs to the same family as the baobob and is originally from South America. Being drought resistant it does particularly well in Southern California. The bark is very unusual with very large and stout thorns adorning it.
Right now it has pink flowers. Later in the year these flowers will become large pods from which silk floss will fall. This is how it gets its name. Now for the flowers, which shed such a beautiful shadow of pink on the ground.
Ginkgo biloba tree
This tree's leaves are beginning to turn in autumn's coolness. This tree is unusual, as it has no living relatives, all others being extinct. It's extinct relatives can still be found as fossils. It originated in China. It leaves bear a resemblance to the leaflets of the maidenhair fern, giving it the common name, Maidenhair Tree.
The leaves look beautiful in the early stages of gaining their autumn color on the outer edge of each leaf. Perfect symmetry!!
There were other trees showing signs of autumn in the Arboretum, mostly maples.
A glorious abundance of gold against the blue sky. Such colors fill our souls in autumn.
I couldn't leave out my favorite tree, the paper-white birch. This far south they are small, but treasured sights.
The silver glow of the bark never fails to inspire me. When I lived in Russia, I was able to see many large specimens of this tree in the forest. Russians love this tree and write many folk songs about it.
