Has this summer and early fall felt stickier than normal to you?
According to LAist, that’s because it has been.
The high temperatures have encouraged trees like the cork oak to produce more sap, resulting in more sticky sidewalks, cars and other surfaces.
The cork oak — the source of the cork used in wine bottle stoppers — is popular near LAist’s Pasadena office and “is a common sight in many municipalities in the region,” the outlet reports.
While some California sites, such as Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, grow the trees for their cork, they’re popular in the Southern California area for their drought resistance and hardiness.
Though they can survive heat waves like the one the area experienced in September, the trees are still stressed by high temperatures and, thus, produce more sap, Garrett Crawford, public works administrator for Pasadena and a certified arborist, told LAist.
“Even though oak trees are fairly adapted to that climate, those sudden spikes and then prolonged heat really stressed out the tree,” Crawford said.
