TIME FOR A FROND FAREWELL?

They're one of Los Angeles' most iconic symbols but palm trees could be facing the chop over concerns they helped spread this year's devastating wildfires in California

- By Peter Sheridan in Los Angeles

WIMMING pools, movie stars and sunshine 360 days of the year - Los Angeles has it all. But nothing quite says "LA" more than its palm trees: iconic symbols of the city's sybaritic sub-tropical lifestyle.

More Hollywood than the Hollywood sign, palm trees are redolent of exotic oceanside luxury and glamour. Their elegant fronds are an intrinsic part of the city's identity, lining the broad avenues of Beverly Hills and the verdant hillsides of Hollywood, seen in films and music videos, and emblazoned on tourist T-shirts.

They are shorthand for the Hollywood Dream and Los Angeles' promise of il dolce far niente. But now the end credits might be rolling for the city's emblematic fronds.

The majestic towering palms may look beautiful swaying gently in balmy blue-skied breezes up to 100 feet above city sidewalks, but as this year's devastating wildfires proved, when ignited they become deadly incendiary devices exploding like Roman candles on Guy Fawkes' night. Once ablaze, they are almost impossible to put out.

And that is sounding a death knoll for the beloved palms.

As Los Angeles begins to rebuild after more than 16,000 structures were destroyed and at least 29 people died in January's blazes that caused an estimated $250billion in damages, city planners and arborists are united in urging civic leaders to replace the charred vegetation with anything but palm trees.

Across the city, the fabled palms are being cut down or torn out by the roots.

"Palm trees are a big threat, because many times they have big fronds, and tons of times they drop embers onto roofs in adjacent areas," says Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Nicholas Prange.

"It just doesn't make sense to plant these species en masse," says Bryan Vejar, master arborist for Los Angeles tree-planting group TreePeople.