Not all palms are infected, and there no danger of their vanishing altogether any time soon. But some parts of the city could look noticeably different in the years ahead. And that troubles some.

The palm tree may be better symbol of L.A. than many realize. The problem, says Steve Dunlap, a supervising tree surgeon with the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department, is that large numbers of the Canary Island Date Palm trees with rough trunks and a topknot of fronds that look like green dreadlocks are succumbing to a fungal disease. Tree surgeons don’t know how to stop the fungus, which gets into the soil.

Dunlap said it doesn’t make sense to replace dying palms with new ones that will probably fall victim to the same ailment. So the city has been planting other varieties of trees.

Nearly 1.6 million trees of all varieties fill L.A.’s parks and line its streets. But city officials had no immediate figures on how many of them are palm trees and how many are dying.

On Oct. 1, officials gave away 3,000 trees, and they have compiled a list of nearly 60 varieties they are planting and encouraging residents to plant.

Palm trees did not make the cut. Their tall, bare trunks make them inferior when it comes to providing shade and some experts believe their scant leaves make them less effective at trapping air pollution.