{"id":893,"date":"2012-04-12T23:00:30","date_gmt":"2012-04-13T03:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=893"},"modified":"2024-12-03T16:49:47","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T21:49:47","slug":"40-acres-and-the-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=893","title":{"rendered":"40 Acres and the Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Linda Burton posting from Sacramento, California<\/em> — More trees per capita than any city in the world? Even Paris? This is a comparison frequently made in Sacramento, in justifying its name as The City of Trees. I\u2019ve never been to Paris but I can vouch for the fact that Sacramento really<\/em> has a lot of trees.<\/p>\n

The first thing that caught my eye as I drove into the city was the trees. Gorgeous trees. Majestic trees. Tall trees, short trees, fruit trees, fir trees, palm trees, pine trees, cedar trees, oak trees; well, you get the idea. All these trees make up what is called an \u201curban forest,\u201d and technologically that\u2019s a good thing because it makes the air better. Emotionally, trees just make us happier. Who can resist them?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I wondered why so many different kinds of trees grow so well here; turns out this is a \u201cworld hotspot\u201d of biodiversity. Sacramento winters are cool enough to support trees that need \u201cchilling hours\u201d to thrive, while mild enough to support the tender subtropicals. You can grow an apple tree and an orange tree, a palm tree and a maple tree \u2013 all in the same yard!<\/p>\n

A drive along almost any city street shows off the great variety, but the State Capitol grounds will really knock your socks off. This 40-acre park that takes up twelve downtown blocks contains species of plant life from nearly every part of the globe. It started with eight hundred trees in 1869; today some palms remain from the original circular path that was used as a shady walk between the Capitol and the Agricultural Pavilion; they alternated California fan palms with English elm. Additions and renovations have gone on over the years, and many trees are labeled today. Walk the grounds and find these fifteen notable trees:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Deodar Cedar \u2013 8 of these elegant trees are part of the original 12 planted in 1872<\/li>\n
  2. Italian Stone Pine \u2013 22 were planted in 1872, only one remains<\/li>\n
  3. Southern Magnolia \u2013 the Southern magnolia has prospered in the park<\/li>\n
  4. Bunya Bunya \u2013 native to Australia, this tree was planted in 1887<\/li>\n
  5. California Fan Palm \u2013 native to California, planted in 1882<\/li>\n
  6. Cockspur Coral Tree \u2013 when blooming, it looks like a brilliant red bird<\/li>\n
  7. Cork Oak \u2013 native to the Mediterranean, planted in 1879<\/li>\n
  8. Montezuma Cypress \u2013 national tree of Mexico, planted in 1920<\/li>\n
  9. Dawn Redwood \u2013 the only deciduous redwood, it changes color through the seasons<\/li>\n
  10. Coast Redwood \u2013 state tree, the tallest recorded is 364 feet<\/li>\n
  11. Giant Sequoia \u2013 also the state tree, can have a girth of 79 feet<\/li>\n
  12. Seville Orange\/Washington Navel Orange \u2013 fruit bearing, sour fruit<\/li>\n
  13. Ginkgo Biloba \u2013 also called a Maidenhair tree<\/li>\n
  14. Irish Yews \u2013 dark green, have been wired into formal pillars<\/li>\n
  15. Cactus Garden \u2013 represents the California desert, planted in 1914<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Pick up the Historic State Capitol Park brochure to read more about the trees, floral gardens, statuary, and memorials while you stroll these beautiful grounds. And invite your Parisian friends to come along too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Linda Burton posting from Sacramento, California — More trees per capita than any city in the world? Even Paris? This is a comparison frequently made in Sacramento, in justifying its name as The City of Trees. I\u2019ve never been to Paris but I can vouch for the fact that Sacramento really has a lot of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4586,194],"tags":[286,284,292,288,291,289,285,293,290,283,287],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=893"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27222,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893\/revisions\/27222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}