On Assignment: My friend Marilyn suggested I go to the corner of Quince Street and Sixth Avenue to take a picture of a tree which she saw there in full bloom. The tree is actually a short block away at the corner of Quince and Balboa Drive. I’ve known that tree for many years, so finding it again this morning was like looking up an old friend. Actually, it was like going for a meeting with a young friend because the tree isn’t very old. I remember when it was just a sapling. The Latin name of this tree is Bignoniaceae. Native to Taiwan and South China where it’s known as 青玉龍血樹, this deciduous tree in San Diego is called “Sapphire Dragon Tree.”
The only camera I had with me on the bike ride was my cell phone, which continues to amaze me. I won’t ever say disparaging things about cell phone photography. Remembering that Shakespeare had Hamlet famously say to catch the conscience of the king, “The Play’s the thing,” I’m determined to get rid of my snobbery about cell phones and iPads and little point-and-shoot cameras and admit The image is the thing.
5 comments:
How beautiful. I've not seen a sapphire tree before. Thanks for spreading the word.
H.T.
Very beautiful.
The camera is impressive.
M.L.
thanks to you for learning about this tree& even its Chinese name!
Betsy
Thanks for the photos of the beautiful tree. It takes me back to another life when in Stillwater, OK, I had a brief encounter with its indigenous American Bignoniacea family cousin, the Catalpa (speciosa I think). We called it the Indian Cigar Tree in my youth in OH. It too has gorgeous floral display in Spring although its flowers are white to pale yellow with interesting markings. The Catalpa is the sole food source of catalpa sphinx moth (Ceratomia catalpae). The caterpillars (aka Catalpa worms) are voracious feeders on its leaver.
I was working on the biosynthetic pathways of several large and complex naturally produced plant products. The Catalpa contains some interesting compounds and the Catalpa worm has a strong chemical smell characteristic of the Catalpa. So, I thought "Oh Boy, pre-concentrated Catalpa juice" All I had to do was collect the plentiful Catalpa worms, throw them in a blender and save a couple concentration steps thanks to Ma Nature. Gathering Catalpa worms on the OSU campus attracted a lot of attention and was a great source of amusement to many including me, but in the long run it was more efficient to gather Catalpa leaves for the natural products and take the Catalpa worms to the local lake and go fishing. The fish loved them.
Gotta disagree with your botany. Compare with Royal Empress tree. Upside down cone bunches of purple blossoms. :-) xom
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