Ah, Sweetshade (Hymenosporum flavum). This street tree was planted heavily in the 1990s in order to, according to Mike Sullivan, author of the requisite Trees of San Francisco, replace its close relative, Pittosporum undulatum (you know, the one with those dull orange fruits with the messy black seeds inside). Sweetshade dominates the two main blocks of Lower Haight, most densely planted between Pierce and Fillmore. This Australian native is hard to miss: though its form is usually narrow and its canopy comparatively sparse, it’s laden with five-petaled, star-shaped yellow flowers exuding a fragrance so thick and sensuous to be unavoidable — it’s dubbed “native frangipani” in Oz. I especially appreciate it on midnight speed-walks up the hill from Molotovs or while gasping for a breath of fresh air outside the chaos of Toronados. We’re stoked: Sweetshade blooms half the year, from March thru September.
smells good, like really ripe orange blossoms
super sweet but not much shade
flavum=yellow, yes?
