There is a New Zealand kauri on the Plaza de Panama and almost nothing about it is written down. Agathis australis is barely grown anywhere in Southern California, which is what makes a mature one standing beside the House of Charm worth crossing the park for, whatever its size turns out to be. The record that confirms it is a single geotagged, photographed observation made in July 2016, still the only record of the species anywhere near San Diego on that platform. Local pieces have described what is almost certainly this same tree, one of them calling it possibly the most valuable plant in the park, and quoting a height and a rough planting decade. None of those pages could be read directly, so none of their numbers are repeated here. This entry carries no age and no height rather than a figure nobody has checked. What is left is the tree itself, and it does not look like its neighbours. Kauri grow a straight grey column of a trunk and hold the crown right at the top of it, which reads oddly on a plaza planted with spreading subtropicals. If you know when it went in, or how tall it is now, tell us. Somebody in San Diego knows, and it is not written down anywhere we can reach.
Beside the Mingei International Museum (House of Charm), Plaza de Panama, Balboa Park, San Diego, CAYou can recognise it by a straight grey column of a trunk holding its crown right at the top, unlike the spreading subtropicals around it. It stands beside the Mingei International Museum on the Plaza de Panama.
Free, in the open plaza outside the Mingei International Museum. No admission needed to see the tree itself; the museum charges for entry to its galleries.
Central Balboa Park, on the Plaza de Panama; served by MTS bus route 7 to the Prado, about a 10 minute walk.
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from.
