LOS ANGELES - The city's palm trees as much a symbol of L.A. as the automobile, movie stars and the beach — are vanishing. The trees are dying of old age and a fungal disease, disappearing one by one from parks and streets, and city planners are replacing them with oaks, sycamores and other species that are actually native to Los Angeles and offer more shade, too.
Not all palms are infected, and there no danger of their vanishing altogether any time soon. But some parts of the city could look noticeably different in the years ahead. And that troubles some.
"I think the palm tree kind of fits with the whole Southern California vibe," says Jonathan Scott, who manages the fashionable downtown restaurant The Palm.
The palm tree may be better symbol of L.A. than many realize. Like the many young people who come to Los Angeles in search of Hollywood stardom, palm trees are not even from here; they were brought here 100 years ago or more from Latin America and other exotic locales.
The tropical trees that sway gently in the breeze and can grow as high as a 12-story building are everywhere — from postcards that fill Hollywood souvenir shops to the streets of wealthy oceanfront enclaves and the barrios east of downtown.
The palm tree has become so intertwined with the image of the city that its name is plastered all over liquor stores and cheap hotels. Neil Diamond once sang of Los Angeles as a place where "palm trees grow and rents are low."
It's been years, of course, since L.A. rents were low. And now the palm trees are starting to go.
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