Trees with a History?

The palms in the black & white photo are feather palm trees. They're not the same variety shown in the color photos. So the originals apparently were replaced sometime during the past 73 years.

Those toothpicks are Mexican Fan Palms (Washingtonia robusta). California Fan Palms, native to springs of the Coachella Valley have fatter trunks and do not rise near as high. The latter are known as Washingtonia filifera. It will be interesting to see how many of the large mature trees on the county mall get the axe under the revamp by the Olin Partnership. The size of these are unique in that the entire mall is on-structure. It is rare to see a roofscape atop a structure designed for deep natural soil, rather than lightweight soil mix/planting media. Personally, I'd rather see the mall plantings be retained and both the county buildings demolished to make way for four individual midrise towers. One of these would incorporate the county law library and the present library building could be replaced with a fifth midrise. Each of the five midrises should be of a unique design; do not repeat the mistake made at the New York state government mall at Albany. Podiums at the base of each tower should hug the streets and include retail spaces to keep the pedestrian activity up in the evenings and weekends. Finally, tear down the county courts so that the entire block bounded by Temple, Spring, First and Broadway can become park space. Build a new courthouse on the other side of the freeway gulch, one with a decent internal circulation.

There are two general descriptions for palm trees: fan and feather. The original trees were of the feather variety. The current palms, Washingtonia robusta, are of the fan variety.

Eric, I once worked for one of the partners for the landscape arch. firm which designed the hardscape and planting design for the L.A. City Mall/City Hall East (they had nothing to do with the 'Triforium'). He related that the firm was told by the city that the budget was unlimited. That is why we see the custom pagoda pavilions, the dandelion fountains and the mosaic tile inlay on the sometimes working fountains. The white concrete didn't work out so well; it stains so easily. The palm cluster which you mention was boxed out with the lumber, banded with metal and moved by crane and flatbed truck. Ficus trees weren't such a fine selection for the raised brick planters along Main Street. It is rare to see tree roots outside or on top of concrete or masonry construction within which the trees were planted. Yes, specimen palms can be easily transplanted relative to dicot trees, being that they are monocots with root systems in the form of a mop at the base of the trunk. Date palms however need to be transplanted only during the spring or summer, otherwise they are more subject to disease. The L.A. City Mall was/is a classic urban design misstep, was conceived prior to any appreciable rise in urban design sensibility in southern California, that which was not to occur until the 1980s. An architectural firm with urban design proficiency should have been in charge of the entire project. The landscape oriented solution was the main mistake.

Better not suggest replacing them, or you'll have Santa Monica tree people chaining themselves to them.