Rot dooms 70-year-old coral tree that served as social site in Newport neighborhood

Shortly after 33 popular eucalyptus trees were cut down on Poppy Avenue, another beloved tree has fallen in Newport Beach, this time on Cliff Drive in the Newport Heights area.

Internal rot caused a nearly 70-year-old coral tree to split in half last week, according to city officials, who cut down and removed the rest of the tree.

“It was a very social area that was memorable for many people,” said Peggy Palmer, who lives nearby. “To see the tree cut down was very, very sad.”

The city had no choice, according to city arborist John Conway.

Conway said he was alerted about the tree last Thursday. “When we received that call, we were worried because that’s one of our iconic trees in Newport Beach,” he said. “When we arrived at the site, half of the tree had split and fell over, and then when we examined the tree more closely, the tree had severe rot and decay underneath and inside the trunk.”

The rot was so severe, Conway said, that “you could smell it from a few feet away.”

The city determined that the tree was a “liability” and needed to be removed.

Palmer, who used to pass the tree on her daily walks with her husband, said it was an important part of the community and will be missed.

“It was beautiful, and everyone would meet under the tree,” she said. “People would have their lunch under the tree. There were several weddings there. All the kids would have their prom pictures taken there, also engagements.”

Though Newport Beach has taken down many trees in recent months, including those on Poppy Avenue in Corona del Mar in September, Conway says it’s “very rare” for the city to remove one of its 300 coral trees. It happens just once every few years, he said.

“Most of them are large specimens, so they’re desirable trees, and most of them are located in iconic areas of the city,” he said. “So we wouldn’t have a reason to remove coral trees except for situations like this.”

But at nearly 70 years old, the Cliff Drive tree was close to the end of its expected life span. Coral trees, in particular, are susceptible to internal decay and limb failure because of their massive canopy, Conway said. The only way to mitigate the problem is to prune the trees each year, he added.

Newport Beach prunes coral trees annually — something many cities don’t have the budget for — but it didn’t get to the one on Cliff Drive in time.

“Ironically, I saw the tree a few days earlier,” Conway said. “I said to myself, ‘This is the time of year when we begin pruning trees, and this one is due for a pruning.’ But unfortunately, I didn’t get to it fast enough.”

But the place where the tree lived won’t be empty for long. Conway said the city will put another coral tree there in the next month or so.

“We’re searching for the largest possible tree we can find,” he said. “Of course, it won’t replace the tree that’s close to 70 years old, but there are other trees of that type that we can buy.”