More than most cities in America, New Orleans is marked by the character of its trees. They are testament to its luxuriance, woven into its lore, emblematic of its peculiar beauty. Crape myrtles give the city some of its languid Southern quality. Palms add a touch of drama and dazzle. Magnolias give grandeur.
Banana trees are splashy in a tropical sort of way.
And live oaks, with their enormous canopies and their eccentric silhouettes, massive and sprawling and sometimes dripping with Spanish moss, lend an air of mystery and majesty. How to identify the trees of New Orleans. Palms come in about 15 varieties around here and the distinctions among them can be subtle and obscure, even for connoisseurs. At one end of the range is the diminutive palmetto, which looks like a shrub and rarely grows taller than 3 feet. At the other end is the stately Canary Island Date Palm, which easily grows to 80 feet in height.