Image Story

You can hardly go anywhere in Los Angeles without seeing a palm tree. They line the streets from the boulevards of Beverly Hills to the foothills of the San Gabriels. These ubiquitous palms have become an intrinsic part of L.A.’s identity. In movies and music videos, on souvenir t-shirts for tourists and even on In-N-Out’s signature cups, palm trees represent the easygoing Southern California lifestyle.

Spanish missionaries first introduced the biblically-significant palm plants to the area in the 18th century. Prized for their “exotic” aesthetic, they later became a popular decorative plant among wealthy Angelenos around the turn of the century.