| Blogs > Russell90028 > From Russell With Love |
|
My Road Trip: Giant Redwoods The Giant Redwood trees are amazing. Some trees are so huge and wide that you can drive a car through the trunk with room to spare. There used to be a famous tree where you could do that. Russell (Courtesy Humboldt Redwoods Interpretive Association) Redwoods have grown and prospered in many areas of Europe, Asia and North America since the warm Paleozoic Era over 160 million years ago. Changes in climate have restricted their natural range and eliminated all but three genera of redwood. Dawn Redwood, (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), is native to a remote area of central China. The Giant Sequoia, (Sequoiadendron giganteum), is native to the western slope of the southern Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. The Coast Redwood, (Sequoia sempervirens), is native to the Pacific Coast from southern Oregon to central California, extending not more than 50 miles inland. Coast redwoods follow the fog and grow best at less than 2,000 feet elevation in areas of heavy winter rains and moderate year round temperatures. They are the world’s tallest living things. Some of them tower above 360 feet. The name, Sequoia sempervirens, is Latin for "ever living" ‒ an appropriate name for these trees since many are 600 to 1200 years old and some have lived more than 2,000 years! In fact, since coast redwoods often reproduce by root collar burl sprouting, the genetic material that comprises some trees may be thousands of years old. Statistics cannot begin to describe the beauty, grandeur and majestic serenity of these trees and the forests in which they grow best ‒ dense groves on the alluvial flats alongside the streams of coastal northern California. The timeless beauty of these groves results at least in part from the dramatic contrast of many elements. The rough textured reddish bark of the redwood trees themselves, the delicate greenery of redwood foliage, the lush carpet of sorrel, mosses and ferns on the forest floor, sunlight filtering down over these colors and textures in ever-changing patterns all contribute to the entirety. Along with all this there is the special silence of a redwood grove ‒ a living silence made up of many small sounds. The tranquility of a redwood grove is even more impressive when one remembers that all of the older trees in this forest have survived repeated windstorms, fires and floods. Their quiet, stately endurance to survive is awesome. The redwoods pithy bark and lack of true resin makes them naturally fire and insect resistant. Fire can cause damage to redwoods, sometimes creating a burnt hollow termed a "goosepen" by early settlers who used to pen chickens, geese and other livestock inside. Redwoods can grow tissue to heal fire scarring, sometimes completely covering the scar. They can also grow a buttress to compensate for a lean. Coast redwoods do not have a single taproot. Instead, they form a shallow network of relatively small roots that extend radially, up to a hundred feet from the base. The ends of the roots are fibrous, allowing them maximum surface area to obtain moisture and nutrients. If a flood buries the roots too deeply in silt, they have the ability to grow and explore their way upward toward more oxygenated soil. In addition to root collar burl sprouting, coast redwoods also reproduce from seeds. Flowering occurs in December and January with cones maturing over the spring and summer. In the autumn, the cones open on the trees and, on average, 50 to 100 tiny seeds sprinkle out. Seedlings survive best in exposed mineral soil that often occurs as a result of fire, flood and uprooted trees. 
|
|||
|
Reminding me of the huge trees I saw in Si Shuan Ban Na, Southern Yunna tropical area. And the interlacing trunks of different trees in the jungle, jungle lives... Thks for sharing.
| ||
|
Reminding me of the huge trees I saw in Si Shuan Ban Na, Southern Yunna tropical area. And the interlacing trunks of different trees in the jungle, jungle lives... Thks for sharing. R
| ||
|
Russell90028, Thanks for sharing, Hope one day I can tour that place, sure I will take plenty of pictures.LOL Nice to hear from you again. I hope you are doing well and thank you for your comments. Regards, HR
| ||
4/21/2007 8:52 am |
Very informative! That tree looks really huge. Nice picture.
| ||
|
Very informative! That tree looks really huge. Nice picture.
|
