Corymbia ficifolia, Red Flowering Gum

                                                                                  (After)

The goal here was to raise the skirt to comply with the city code for height over the street (14′) and over the sidewalk (8′).  We also wanted to lighten the end-weight of the branches.  This will lessen the risk of a branch breaking in heavy wind or rain.  These trees get particularly heavy because of the large seed capsules.  They look like large, hard olives.

The Corymbia ficifolia, previously known as the Eucalyptus ficifolia, is from Australia; the south coast of Western Australia.  Like California, Western Australia has a Mediterranean climate; a temperate zone with wet winters, and warm, dry summers.  So it’s not surprising that many of the trees in California are from Western Australia.

Although the Red Flowering Gum is not in the genus Eucalyptus any more, both are part of the Myrtle family: Myrtaceae.  Other members of the Myrtle family that are common street trees in San Francisco are the Callistemon citrinus (Bottle Brush), Metrosideros excelsus (New Zealand Christmas Tree) and Eucalyptus globulous (Blue Gum Eucalyptus).

The Flowers of the Red Flowering Gum have many
stamins (those fuzzy red things) but no petals.  This is a hallmark
of the Myrtle Family.

The flowers come in various colors from pink to red to orange.

The flowers of the Bottle Brush (Callistemon citrinus)

The flowers of the New Zealand Christmas Tree (Metrosideros excelsus)