Over on the Twitter, Neighbor Tim shared this super snap of the spooky tree-shrub thing on the eastern slope of Bernal Hill summit.
It’s long been known that Bernal’s tree-shrub thing has supernatural powers and functions as a gateway to the afterlife.
Some say it’s a California Buckeye, but no one seems to know exactly definitely for sure.
What we can say for sure is that Neighbor Tim has captured the beauty of the mysterious tree-shrub thing, in a very elemental way. Lovely!
PHOTO: Neighbor Tim
Bernalwood 
I think it’s a buckeye, and I know that it’s dead.
insert eye roll
It’s not a buckeye. There are few buckeye left in SF and none of them grow up on an exposed slope like that — not even the planted ones. Way too harsh in that spot (wind, sun exposure, lack of water, shallow soil). Consider the flourishing buckeye below the closed portion of the road as you enter at Folsom after passing the blackberry patch. Sheltered down in an area with lots of water and little sun. (There’s a surprising amount of water available in that spot, hence the survival of a planted buckeye, extant blue elderberry and willow.)
It was a more likely a toyon, which don’t have the longest lifespan but break down very slowly once dead. The wood is very hard.