The iconic coral tree that once stood at the entrance of Century City on Avenue of the Stars and Pico Boulevard is no more.
The massive tree that greeted Century City visitors, residents, and workers for decades split in half January 17 prompting an uprooting, and leaving the area barren for now. Today, the “Century City” foundational plaque still sits at the site, serving as a quasi-headstone for the fallen tree.
An arborist “guestimated” the tree was about 55 years old and planted during Century City’s development in the 1960s, according to Sara Bilger, executive director of Century City Business Improvement District (BID).
“The tree had root rot that was not visible to detect,” Century City BID told property owners after the tree was removed. “We had to take it down and will have to treat the soil before further enhancements will occur. We are under advisement of our landscape architects on how we will proceed to beautify this gateway to Century City.”
Coral trees have a life cycle just like a human, explained Teri Redman Kahn, a coral tree preservationist based in Brentwood.
Brentwood is one of many Los Angeles enclaves that has felt the pain of dying coral trees. Despite a Coral Tree Endowment Fund, the coral trees of Brentwood, and elsewhere in greater Los Angeles, are known for their fragility, high maintenance, and costly pruning, according to Redman Kahn.
“When they get old they die … And each time one had fallen it was like a dinosaur had fallen,” Redman Kahn recalled. “If the whole tree didn’t fall, a major limb went and you knew that the rest of the tree was going to go within the next year. It’s almost like losing a grandparent or something.”
Kahn said that corals trees deaths, specifically in Brentwood, also come from getting too much water (sometimes from a broken sprinkler) or some other negative environmental force.
If coral trees are neglected and left untrimmed, the trees’ brittle branches tend to crack off, and overly moist roots can rot, causing trees to keel over, according to Redman Kahn.
The gothic and majestic coral trees became the City’s official tree in 1966.
