The giants of northwestern California are non other than the coast redwood. These amazing trees are an impressive sight to behold.
The native range of coast redwood is from the northern California coast north to the southern Oregon coast. The tree is closely related to the Giant Sequoia of central California. Coast Redwoods are the tallest trees on Earth. They can reach heights of 370 feet and have trunk diameters over 20 feet. For many years, one tree simply named “Tall Tree” in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and within the Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) was measured at 367.8 feet, but the top 10 feet (3 m) of the tree was reported to have died in the 1990s.
Mature Coast redwoods live an average of 600-1500 years and a few are documented to be 2,000 years old, making them some of the longest-living organisms on earth. They are highly resistant to disease, due to a thick protective bark and high tannin content.
Redwood trees develop enormous limbs that accumulate deep organic soils and can support tree-sized trunks growing on them. This typically occurs above 150 feet. Scientists have recently discovered that plants that normally grow on the forest floor also grow in these soils, well above ground. The soil mats provide homes to invertebrates, mollusks, earthworms, and salamanders. During drought seasons, some treetops die back, but the trees do not die outright. Instead, redwoods have developed mechanisms to regrow new trunks from other limbs. These secondary trunks, called reiterations, also develop root systems in the accumulated soils at their bases. This helps transport water to the highest reaches of the trees. Coastal fog, in addition to its cooling effect, also provides up to 40 percent of their annual water needs.
More information can be found via the links below.
In the bookstore: Redwood National Park
On the web: NPS - Redwood National and State Parks, Wikipedia - Redwood National and State Parks
Tags: California, coast redwood, redwood national park, redwoods
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:40 am
Hi — a good book to add to your bookstore is “Wild Trees” by Preston
http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Tre.....1400064899
and check out my website Good Nature Publishing for a new fine art Giant Sequoia poster titled Sequoia: Giants of the Sierra Nevada painted by John C. Pitcher
http://www.goodnaturepublishing.com
Good story above — but mention Hyperion — the tallest Redwood on the planet.
Also see Humboldt State University’s Forestry School for http://www.humboldt.edu/~sillett/sillett.html
best fishes,
Timothy
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Thanks Timothy.
I forgot about Hyperion which was measured at 378.1 feet in 2006. These are amazing organisms indeed.
-Tommy
January 23rd, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Apparently only a select group of people know where Hyperion is, because of fears it will be vandalized.
Fascinating post, fascinating trees.
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:17 am
My favorite nature photos are of these giant trees of the California Redwood Coast.
Thanks for doing this article and sharing your photo. Does anyone know of any good online photo galleries for Redwoods?
August 28th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
About the only photos in existence online of Hyperion, are on the following redwood topic page:
http://www.mdvaden.com/grove_of_titans.shtml
It’s like a Nexus for big redwood stuff.