The latest round of planting was inspired by the 1994 Summit of the Americas, when the county spent nearly $5 million dressing up central Dade highways for foreign dignitaries -- with the cost of the 25,000 trees covered mostly by gas taxes.

Afterward, commissioners representing outlying South Dade districts demanded their share. "My district came up short after the summit, " Moss said. "I raised hell about it."

Vidal responded to commissioners by earmarking a big chunk of Metro's two-cent-a-gallon secondary gas tax for greening roadways -- a levy that raises about $12 million a year.

Commissioners have been lobbying for their piece of the action ever since:

* Since last summer, when Sorenson announced "10,000 Trees for South Dade, " her office has swamped the county with street- planting sites -- so many that county manager Vidal diplomatically suggested that Sorenson's latest wish list was a bit out of line.

"Your cooperation to prioritize the listing will prove beneficial to planting District 8, " Vidal advised Sorenson in a March 28 memo. "The listing as presented represents a projected cost of $4.15 million or 30 percent of the secondary gas tax."

* In a Jan. 25 letter to Gov. Lawton Chiles, District 10 commissioner Javier Souto noted his success in getting royal palms planted for constituents living in the neighborhood south of Florida International University along the turnpike. Souto wanted Tallahassee to cut red tape to speed up the planting of more trees in the area.

"The Dade County Public Works Department has planted under my direction over $100,000 worth of landscaping to buffer the residential community from the turnpike, " Souto wrote to Chiles. "I also requested some shade trees, some flowering trees and some mature palm trees that complement the tropical Hispanic flavor of the neighborhood."

Souto collected $2,000 in campaign donations from Diaz interests in 1994, records show. The commissioner is out of the country this month and could not be reached.

* In January, Moss reminded Vidal of his constituents' desires.

"Needless to say, I have received numerous inquiries from citizens asking: 'When are we going to get our trees?' " Moss wrote to Vidal on Jan. 25. "I have personally toured the district and identified locations for initial plantings. I trust that 'mature palms' similar to those planted in other communities will be used."