
Santa Barbara's Moreton Bay Fig Tree located in
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...
is believed to be the largest ''
Ficus macrophylla
''Ficus macrophylla'', commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the mulberry and fig family Moraceae. It is native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland i ...
'' in the United States.
[Days, M. L. (1977). ''Histories of individual parks Santa Barbara California''. Santa Barbara, CA: City Planning Committee.]
An Australian seaman visiting Santa Barbara in 1876 presented a seedling of an Australian Moreton Bay fig tree to a local girl who planted it at 201 State Street. After the girl moved away a year later, her girlfriend, Adeline Crabb, transplanted the tree to the corner of Montecito and Chapala streets, just a few blocks from the ocean, on land then owned by the Southern Pacific Transportation Company.
The tree was officially designated as a historic landmark in 1970, and the property was deeded to the City of Santa Barbara in 1976. The tree has since been placed on the
California Register of Big Trees. The roots are protected by a chain barrier the size of the canopy.
The tree may be viewed at the Amtrak Train Station, 209 State Street.
In July 1997, the circumference of the
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...
, measured at a height of above the ground, was . The average crown spread was and the total height was .
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See also
* List of individual trees
The following is a list of individual trees. Trees listed here are regarded as important or specific by their historical, national, locational, natural or mythological context. The list includes actual trees located throughout the world, as we ...
*
*
References
External links
*https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2001/01/08/trees-californias-gold-3013/ 30-min video: Huell Howser visits the fig free in a 2001 episode of ''California's Gold''].
Individual fig trees
Individual trees in California
Natural history of Santa Barbara County, California
Tourist attractions in Santa Barbara, California
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