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Fact or fallacy: Sexy tree too much for some Wests

Josey1Josey1 Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
edited May 2002 in General Discussion
Fact or fallacy: Sexy tree too much for some Westside neighbors
By DAN WHITE
Sentinel staff writer

A Westside resident called the cops Monday to report an allegedly phallic tree.

Officers responded to the Liberty Street home but found no wrongdoing. They said the 20-footer - actually an evergreen hedge of the Luma genus - is protected by its owner's right to artistic freedom.

"We contacted the city attorney," said Sgt. Brad Goodwin. "It could be interpreted anywhere from being free speech to being artistic. It's really nothing we have control over."

All trees can be seen as "phallic," but some would argue this eugenia is especially so. Viewed from the front, the hedge looks to have testicles, or perhaps bosoms.

Eugenia is a common plant noted for white flowers and edible fruits, according to the Sunset Western Garden Book. Sunset says the plant "performs best" in well-drained soil.

The owner of the tree, Gillian Greensite, said she found it peculiar the plant has been there at least 15 years and suddenly someone is mad about it. She said no one has complained to her about the plant.

Greensite, director of UC Santa Cruz's rape prevention and counseling program, also questioned what the offended neighbor was really seeing in this tree.

"If they want to see phallic, they see phallic, I guess. I see trees," said Greensite, an outspoken advocate of tree preservation in the city.

She added the eugenia was "not trimmed for any particular purpose."

The complaining neighbor could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

A second neighbor, who asked that her name not be used, said she found the tree irksome but has grown "numb" to it over the years. But she said it's annoying to "all of a sudden hear kids screeching and laughing about the tree.

"They're good neighbors, believe me," she said, referring to Greensite's household. "(But) we have older folks around here."

The neighbor also said the tree has become a beacon for annoying sightseers.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2002/May/08/local/stories/05local.htm


"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

Comments

  • mudgemudge Member Posts: 4,225 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Cool....
    Question. What do children and "older folks" have to do with the discussion. Damn "do-gooders" never fail to play the "protect the children" card, that's to be expected.... but OLD FOLKS????

    Mudge the amused

    I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!
  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Mudge,

    The mushbrains probably figure folks of your advanced years need to have their child-like minds protected as well . . . .
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