On a walk around our neighborhood in Escondido on Bear Valley Parkway, we came across some badass trees in the median separating the lanes. They have thick, bulging trunks, and huge, 1- 3 inch long, hard, sharp thorns. You would not want to have one of these in your backyard, because if you ever stumbled during a game of catch and ran into this tree, you’d die of loss of blood long before you could be taken to the emergency room. Here is a section of trunk:

Another view from the other side:

Looking up along the trunk:

They are nestled between other ordinary trees.

There it is, in the middle. There are cotton pods (from last year) in the crown. In March, they don’t have any leaves yet. I’ll have to document it later, when they bloom and have leaves.

Here is a closer view of the pods.

Here are some pods that are still closed up, the cotton hasn’t popped yet.

Here is what the stuff looks like close-up at home.

Researching these trees, I found that they are called Silk Floss Trees. Check this link out for some really good pictures.

To me, they are just Badass Trees.