Magnolia grandiflora: a Los Angeles star

 Los Angeles is a fascinating place to explore, especially if one decides to indulge in trees and flowers. My first encounter with the “natural world” was right after my arrival. I was excited to see big and small magnolia trees lining up the boulevard and being in full bloom by mid September, October and early November.  I took this as a sign of a prolonged summer time. June 2013 almost over, I am enjoying these queen style trees in full bloom. I spend some time stepping closer, observing the white and fragrant flowers, noticing their decay and listening to the sound produced by walking on magnolia’s brown leaves on the pavement. I follow the play of sunlight and shadows cast by the foliage on the sidewalk and in vain look for the bird hiding somewhere on the tree. The semiotics of the tree can easily be accessed online. It is here suffice to say that  I was happy to discover that it is the symbol tree of the State of Mississippi and that it was named after P. Magnol who first studied it.

Here are some websites worth looking at:

http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/uesd/uep/products/cufr475_street_trees_LA.pdf

http://www.yellowpages.com/yparticles/tree-service/8-gorgeous-flowering-trees

http://www.tytyga.com/California-trees-a/270.htm

http://articles.latimes.com/1985-02-10/news/ho-3282_1_deciduous-magnolias

http://www.arboretum.org/index.php/news/some_outstanding_shade_trees_for_southern_california

http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Mississippi/stateTreeMagnolia.html

And here is my fascination in photographs.