I wouldn't eliminate the possibility of western sycamore, Platanus racemosa. A pretty frequent tree in SoCal.

Chinese elm seems about right.

Ulmus parvifolia. They come in variety also..some don't weep,some are nearly evergreen,some are deciduous no matter how mild the winter and some more varieties are used as Bonsai. Others get to be large trees. Yet all the same dang tree.

Yeah, U parvifolia seems the right guess for davidrt's tree. Apparently they grow well in a wide variety of sites/climates. Glad I planted one -- very nice tree w/an Amer elm look and a surprise honeybee attraction (flowers) in Sept each year.

i saw this add last night.. AGAIN ... lol .. and thought of you ...

and then i started wondering about you .. lol .. do you often watch tv and try to ID plants ... or did this one just strike you as he hesitated there???

anyway.. i prefer the clogging version of the add ... and second place goes to the ant infestation .... this fencing version is not their best work ...

yeah.. i watch too much tv ... lol ..

ken

I'm glad I asked but I'm still undecided! As is our expert panel, apparently.

Since this is in some typical suburban garden and not a botanic garden, obviously, one deciding factor in my mind would be: how common are large Angophora costatas in Southern California. If they were commonly planted starting mid-century, I lean towards that. If they were and are remaining super rare, I lean towards the Ulmus.

Also interesting - although Jo O'Connell sells the plant, if there were better looking ones in Southern California, surely she would use a more endearing picture than this one?! https://www.australianplants.com/plants.aspx?id=1054

Beng,

another positive about my 'Allee' aka 'Emer II' Ulmus, is that, although it produces copious seed, very few of them germinate. I would say right now with a 35'+ tall tree, I pull about 5 seedlings every spring at most. I guess it's good no one else in my neighborhood is a plant collector haha.

Easy to spot commercials filmed in Socal. Plants that are common there- and with Chinese elms,all over the state as street trees. Florida commercials are greener and nobody in Cali has Coconuts and hedges of Crotons. Nobody.

Ulmus parvifolia is what I think it is. No question.

From seed, it seems to produce a more upright shape and a rougher bark. Its seed germinate readily.

The one shown in the photograph looks like the graceful, mottle-barked one. For some unknown reason it's had many of its lower limbs taken off. Bit of a shame. It must be about 80 years old at a (wild) guess. The ones that grew in the street where I grew up, which are about 65 years old, are not as wide in the trunk as this one.