2020-Mystery-tree

On July 31, 2020 Bill and I were walking the Beautiful grounds at Lema Ranch when we happened upon this tree in full bloom... We had been having triple digit temperatures for some time, so we were surprised at the beautiful delicate pink blooms showing no sign of heat distress. Neither of us had any idea what it might be...so I put it on my FB page figuring someone would know... Best guess was Catalpa , but the leaves were not right... I downloaded a plant identifier APP, and a week later we returned... Was surprised to find the tree as beautiful as it had been a week earlier!!! The common name is Desert Willow, genus Chilopsis linearis , CA variety is Arcuata and it is closely related to the Catalpa.

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