A Huge Fig Tree in Orange, CA

[dperez]

I went to lunch with some coworkers yesterday at this Chinese Restaurant and couldn't help but notice the massive fig tree that covers a good portion of Glassell St. It has branches that are as tall and wide as most trees around town.

Check this thing out on google maps street view (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=574+S+Glassell+St,+Orange,+CA&hl=en&ll=33.779252,-117.85319&spn=0.002049,0.004801&sll=33.779539,-117.851334&sspn=0.004559,0.004801&oq=574+S,+&t=h&hnear=574+S+Glassell+St,+Orange,+California+92866&z=18&layer=c&cbll=33.779253,-117.85319&panoid=Aa_sCDNzFbwoO78lR6iO3w&cbp=11,314.55,,0,9.81).

The first ever exposure I made with my 8x10 was made down the street from here on E. River Ave. I had stumbled upon a massive Maple tree in front of a house (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=574+S+Glassell+St,+Orange,+CA&hl=en&ll=33.779538,-117.851334&spn=0.002049,0.004801&sll=33.779539,-117.851334&sspn=0.004559,0.004801&oq=574+S,+&t=h&hnear=574+S+Glassell+St,+Orange,+California+92866&layer=c&cbll=33.77954,-117.851333&panoid=FxrpNHo9-X0aG4lVo25S9w&cbp=11,311.33,,0,-13.69&z=18). At the time, I did not know about the fig tree. The house next door also has a massive Pine tree. The trees and the homes make for interesting pictures because of the contrast between the giant trees and the very modest homes that lie juxtaposed to one another.

I'm going to head out later tonight and try to make a picture or two of these trees.

-DP

[John Kasaian]

Very cool!:cool:

[sanking]

http://www.sandykingphotography.com/photography-portfolio/mexico/Photographs/127-ancient-fig-tree

Check this one out. Fig tree native to southeast Asia, but planted in the highlands of Veracruz, near Xalapa, in the 16th century.

Sandy

[Jim Galli]

California, which I left because of the masses of humans in 1983, certainly has many noble trees. I miss the trees. One of my challenges living in Nevada. If 34 and a half million people would go somewhere else, it is most certainly paradise. My grandmother's family arrived there from New Mexico by train in 1914. Ride the street cars anywhere you wanted to go.

[Michael Cienfuegos]

That looks like a Moreton Bay Fig. They are huge. One prime specimen is in Santa Barbara. Fantastic old trees.

[Kirk Gittings]

http://www.sandykingphotography.com/photography-portfolio/mexico/Photographs/127-ancient-fig-tree

Check this one out. Fig tree native to southeast Asia, but planted in the highlands of Veracruz, near Xalapa, in the 16th century.

Sandy

Veeerry nice Sandy!

[Ivan]

Sandy,
I think I saw that tree in the Museo El Lencero, an old Hacienda that belonged to general Santa Ana a distant relative. It's located like you said in Veracruz, near Jalapa.

[dperez]

That is pretty incredible. It most have been something standing next to it.

-Dan


http://www.sandykingphotography.com/photography-portfolio/mexico/Photographs/127-ancient-fig-tree

Check this one out. Fig tree native to southeast Asia, but planted in the highlands of Veracruz, near Xalapa, in the 16th century.

Sandy

[Jody_S]

The scene reminds me of the work of one of Quebec's most famous (certainly most popular) painters, Marc-Aurele Fortin (https://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&safe=off&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1104&bih=619&q=marc-aurele+fortin&oq=marc-aurele+fortin&gs_l=img.3..0i24.2767.7037.0.7349.18.7.0.11.11.0.73.486.7.7.0...0.0...1ac.1.8.img.drsXaPjjxvQ).

[sanking]

Sandy,
I think I saw that tree in the Museo El Lencero, an old Hacienda that belonged to general Santa Ana a distant relative. It's located like you said in Veracruz, near Jalapa.

That is the tree. The first construction at Lencero, a boarding house, dates to about 1545 and belonged to Juan de Lencero, one of Corte's soldiers. In the 16th century there was a active trade route from the Pacific coast of Mexico with merchandise arriving from Asia, to the gulf port of Veracruz. The tree probably arrived in Mexico by this route. Apparently there is not another tree of its kind in the region.

Sandy

[bobwysiwyg]

Wow! These trees make the 200+ year old oak in our yard look puny. :)

[sanking]

Veeerry nice Sandy!

Thanks for the comment, Kirk.

BTW, Bob Carnie in Toronto has a very large print (about 40X50") of this image hanging in his gallery space at Elevator Digital.

Sandy

[dperez]

I visited the tree on Friday; according to a plaque, it is a Moreton Bay Fig Tree and was planted in 1875, by a Henri F. Gardner, in honor of his wife and his 1st son on the day of his birth. I didn't make a photo on Friday as the tree was backlit. I made another attempt in the morning and was able to make two exposures.

I also visited the two homes on E. River St. Sadly, the Pine tree has been removed. I spoke with a neighbor who said the tree was believed to be over 350 years old, but a branch had fallen, and the home owners insurance would no longer provide coverage for the home with the tree there. The neighborhood hired an arborist, but it was to no avail.

The other tree & house were doing fine, I managed to make a couple exposures. I discovered that the tree is not a Maple as I had been told, but rather a Sycamore. The tree predates the house that was built in 1904. The house is on the market for $1.2 million.

I spent the morning hours driving around the downtown Orange area and discovered several other picturesque scenes, of which I recorded two.

[dperez]

A couple shots from over the weekend. Taken with my phone.
9293692937

[dperez]

A few more.

-DP

9293892939

[dperez]

I think most of these were taken on Friday. I went as far as to load a film holder in the camera, and I waited about an hour for the sun to drop behind another tree, but in the end I decided against it. I returned the following morning for a much improved scene. I only had to wait for people to enter my picture before making an exposure, which took maybe 20 minutes max.

Scans of the negatives to follow.

-DP

92940

[JerryP]

I just found your post about the Moreton Bay Fig tree in Orange. I grew up in Orange in the 50's and 60's and remember this tree from my childhood. I've been checking out the light on another Moreton Bay Fig tree in Anaheim on West St. near the Mother Colony House. This tree dates back to the late 1890's.
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.836032,-117.928244,3a,37.5y,106.46h,83.91t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1saYIwEq_iBrdiCTJ_lyc2_g!2e0!6m1!1e1?hl=en

[Drew Wiley]

There's another giant old fig in Santa Barbara, going clear back to the Mission days, already noted, which they claim is the biggest tree anywhere. There are arguments over this status. Depends on how the rules are defined. I hung a print in the office next door of what the Forest Service claims is the biggest tree in the world - the Bull Buck Tree, a giant sequoia. Their measuring rules state the diameter eight feet above the ground, specifically to preclude things like figs with vast spreading root systems above ground. But the NP Service claims the General Sherman tree is the biggest based upon cumulative wood mass or board-footage.
I like em all.