The Kauri by the Mingei Museum

not documentedKauri

KauriNobody has published a photograph of this tree under a licence we can use. Send us yours and it goes on this page.
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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.

Been here? Worth the visit?

The button above opens directions in your maps app. Central Balboa Park, on the Plaza de Panama; served by MTS bus route 7 to the Prado, about a 10 minute walk.

Species
Kauri (Agathis australis)
Age estimate
not documented
Location
Beside the Mingei International Museum (House of Charm), Plaza de Panama, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA (Balboa Park)
Access
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.
Getting there
Central Balboa Park, on the Plaza de Panama; served by MTS bus route 7 to the Prado, about a 10 minute walk.

Trees nearby

The Moreton Bay Fig of Balboa Parkabout 112 years · 370 m awayThe Guadalupe Island Cypress by the Horseshoe Clubroughly 130 years, planted around 1892 · 980 m awayThe Kate Sessions Tipu Treeabout a century old, planted in the 1920s · 10.6 km away
Curious what else is standing in San Diego? See all 4 remarkable ancient trees in San Diego or find out what the oldest tree in San Diego is.
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This page was researched from a distance. If you know this tree, you know things we do not: the species, the age, the size, whether the photo shows the right tree, or that it is gone. Every field on this page can be corrected.

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