Moreton Bay Fig Tree
Ocean Avenue and Wilshire Blvd.
Planted prior to 1900, designated 1976
As legend has it, the story of this tree dates back to the late nineteenth century. An Australian sailor had no money to pay for his drinks in a local bar and instead paid the bartender with a sapling, a Ficus macrophylla, native to Australia. Having no interest in plants, the bartender then offered the sapling to Georgina Jones, wife of Senator John P. Jones, who in turn gave it to her gardener to plant in the yard of Miramar, the Jones’s private estate fronting Ocean Avenue. Their home has since been replaced with a hotel, but the tree remains, gracing the courtyard of the hotel. This 80-foot tall Moreton Bay Fig tree is the second largest of its kind in California, and is notable not only for its grandeur and magnificence, but also its association with Senator Jones, one of the founders of Santa Monica.