Escondido, California approved street tree list, dated 4/13/2017

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It is also not planting advice and it does not say which tree suits a site. Escondido posts one Approved Street Tree List as a PDF headed "City of Escondido, Approved Street Tree List, 4/13/2017", and a shorter version of the list on the Request a Free Tree page of the Public Works Urban Forestry section. The PDF has 40 entries in three size groups.

What the PDF says

The PDF sorts trees by mature height and by how much planting room they need. The first group is small to medium trees of 20 to 40 feet, recommended for parkways, medians or near hardscape. The second is medium to large trees of 40 to 60 feet and more that can go in the same places, with a 10 foot minimum planting area recommended. The third is medium to large trees of 40 to 60 feet and more that are acceptable only in a large open space, with a 30 foot minimum planting area recommended.

The PDF has three notes and a closing sentence. Two notes say bold text marks deciduous trees and underlined text marks semi-deciduous trees. This page does not copy those marks. The third says the species, the planting site and the watering needs should be evaluated closely before any planting. The closing sentence says any tree not on the list can be considered for planting beside a street, subject to approval from the Escondido Planning Department.

The three groups

The names below are copied as the PDF prints them, including its abbreviated scientific names and spellings. Some scientific names end at a genus ("Quercus sp.", "Ulmus sp.") and some common names are plural ("Oaks").

Small to medium trees, 20 to 40 feet, recommended along parkways, in medians or near hardscape (18 entries)

Scientific name as printed	Common name as printed
Acacia baileyana	Bailey acacia
Laurus nobilis	Sweet Bay
Agonis flexuosa	Peppermint tree
Magnolia grandi.	Magnolia 'Little gem'
Bauhinia blake.	Hong Kong orchid
Metrosideros exc.	New Zealand Christmas tree
Callistemon sp.	Bottle brush
Pittosporum philly.	Willow Pittosporum
Calodendrum cap.	Cape chestnut
Pyrus calleryana	Bradford pear
Cercis spp.	Redbud
Rhus lancea	African Sumac
Eriobotrya deflex.	Bronze loquat
Tabebuia sp.	Trumpet tree
Giejera parvif.	Australian willow
Trachycarpus fort.	Windmill palm
Lagerstroemia ind.	Crape Myrtle
Umbellularia cal.	California Laurel

Medium to large trees, 40 to 60 feet and more, for parkways, medians or near hardscape; 10 foot minimum planting area recommended (6 entries)

Scientific name as printed	Common name as printed
Brachychiton pop.	Bottle tree
Koelreuteria pan.	Golden rain tree
Chorisia sp.	Floss silk tree
Pinus canariensis	Canary island pine
Ginko biloba	Maidenhair tree
Pistachia atlantica	Mount Atlas pistach

Medium to large trees, 40 to 60 feet and more, acceptable only in a large open space; 30 foot minimum planting area recommended (16 entries)

Scientific name as printed	Common name as printed
Albizia julibrissin	Mimosa
Liquidambar	Rotundiloda
Ceratonia siliqua	Carob
Lophostemon conf.	Brisbane box
Cinnamom. cam.	Camphor
Magnolia grandiflora	Magnolia
Cupaniopsis ana.	Carrotwood
Podocarpus gracil.	Fern pine
Cedrus sp.	Cedar
Quercus sp.	Oaks
Erythrina sp.	Coral tree
Sophora japonica	Japanese pagoda tree
Fraxinus sp.	Ash
Tipuana tipu	Tipuana
Jacaranda mimo.	Jacaranda
Ulmus sp.	Elm

What the web page shows

The Request a Free Tree page carries a heading, Approved Street Tree List. It says every tree on the list needs city approval and depends on supply at local nurseries, and it shows only the small to medium group, with 13 names: African Sumac, Bailey Acacia, Bottlebrush, Bronze Loquat, California Laurel, Crape Myrtle, Hong Kong Orchid, Little Gem Magnolia, Peppermint Tree, Redbud, Sweet Bay, Trumpet Tree and Willow Pittosporum. The PDF lists 18 entries in that group. The five in the PDF but not on the web page are Cape chestnut, Australian willow, New Zealand Christmas tree, Bradford pear and Windmill palm.

The same page names six top tree selections: Little Gem Magnolia, Hong Kong Orchid, Golden Rain Tree, Eastern Redbud, Crape Myrtle and Bronze Loquat. It says the Free Tree Program plants only in residential areas and within the city right-of-way, and does not plant palm trees. Under the program, a city inspector visits to confirm the home is inside the city limits and has a planting space beside the sidewalk, recommends a tree for the space, and the city plants it. The page says the homeowner agrees to water the tree twice a week for 3 years and that the city maintains the tree once it is mature.

The city’s tree work

The Tree Services page says the city performs a tree assessment on every city tree before work begins, trims on three criteria (safety, visibility and clearance), follows ANSI standards when trimming, and removes trees mainly when they have died, damage infrastructure or keep failing in ways that could endanger the public. It says public works staff respond to tree emergencies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Urban Forestry page says the USDA Forest Service awarded the city grant funding to develop an Urban Forestry Management Plan. Its work plan lists a Regulatory Update from February to May 2026, described as recommendations to update the city’s ordinances and tree list, and public hearing presentations in June 2026. The list read for this page carries the 4/13/2017 date.

Limits

The web page and the PDF do not match, as shown above. Which one the city treats as current is a question for the Public Works office.
The PDF is hosted on the city’s library site, not on the main city site, and the Free Tree page does not link its address in the text read here.
Deciduous and semi-deciduous marks are in the PDF and are not copied here.

This list sits beside the others on the city lists comparison page. For how lists connect to the research on mixing species, see the street tree diversity page.