Mulholland Miracle
“Following the black walnut’s fall wake up call, come the majestic sycamore … showcasing colors rarely seen in So Cal native flora,” Peter Asco reported.
As Peter scouted Mulholland Highway, in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, on a “perfect, partially cloudy day” this past weekend, he “came upon a scenery alien to our landscape, a grove of imposing 100 foot high sycamore.”
They were, “… no longer displaying their usual drab mud-brown seasonal shift, but dressed instead in orange, yellow, green, and red, definitely a miracle!”
“The native California sycamore (Platanus racemosa) is a true beauty at maturity.
Along the coast the gnarled, twisted, flaking trunks of ancient California sycamore are often distorted into Seussian shapes. I like to think they were what inspired Southern California’s Dr. Seuss to draw trees that way. Certainly, they are one of the most sculpturally fascinating trees in a state full of them.
Not all California sycamore bend and twist in this way, though all are beautiful and Peter scores a First Report for his photographs of Near Peak California sycamore along the Mulholland Highway.
Will miracles never cease.
Mulholland Highway, Santa Monica Mountains NRA, Malibu – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!