The ubiquitous tall spindly palm tree seen all over Los Angeles, washingtonia robusta, may someday be a thing of the past. Most were planted as street trees in the 1930s (many for the 1932 Olympic games), every 40 to 50 feet along 150 miles of city streets. But now many of these trees are nearing the end of their normal life span, and others have become susceptible to a newly arrived pest, the red palm weevil. And because palms require so much water to grow in the drought-stricken semi-arid environment of Southern California, they may not be replaced by new palms but by other species of street tree more suited to the harsh climate.

Copyright © 2017 by Will Tenney. All rights reserved.
Please do not copy without prior written permission.