Erythrina falcata - Brazilian Coral Tree, Corticeira-da-Serra

Amazing colour Andy............

Excuse my ignorance D1...but what is that on the trunks of the MFPalms?

Milky:

Thank you for the compliment!

Lori:

Those are the old fronds...it is typical for the old frond to stay on the trunk for a long time. Most of the time they are just trimmed off so they don't attact rats.

Rats? I thought it was perhaps habitat for birds, etc. but never rats! lol. So the sign should read...beware of falling rats? lol.

Lori:

Yes, rats! Yuck! It is very common here for rats to live in trees...some cities in San Diego County have horrible problems with tree rats.

In tourist areas...sometimes foot long stainless steel sleeves are put around the trunk of palm to prevent the rat from crossing this barrier. All the very tall Mexican Fan Palms in Santa Barbara, CA along the beach have these stainless steel barriers.

hmm.... stainless steel aye? I have a friend to traveled to S. Cal. back in the 80's and she thought it was very strange that plastic flowers were used along some of the freeways....or at least that's what she said! Was she joshing!?

Lori:

I've never seen plastic flowers along the freeway. Maybe she was speaking of the very commonly planted Ice Plant flowers which look plastic-like. It's a living plant.

Could very well have been, D1...she was not a gardener.