Recently somebody commented about the “interesting looking” tree in this photo and wondered where we were. The where is the Santa Cruz mountains about an hour south of San Francisco. And home to redwood trees. The photo shows a redwood tree rising above the others below.
California is home to two types of redwood trees, the giant Sequoias in the Sierra Nevada mountains and the more abundant coastal Redwoods that grow in the coastal ranges from the central coast up into Oregon. Both can live over 2000 years; some Sequoias are over 3000 years old. 3000 years is pretty old but the Bristlecone Pine trees holds the record, also found in California, they live for almost 5000 years. I wrote previously about a trip to the Bristlecone forest.
Both redwoods can grow to over 300 feet, with coastal Redwoods reaching nearly 400 feet. Sequoias are the most voluminous trees on earth, if you could take the tree down without it breaking up you could build an entire block of homes from just one tree. The coastal Redwoods are the tallest on earth.
I’ve lived my entire life either within or just a few minute drive from coastal Redwood forests. And can understand why some might think they are interesting looking trees, they sorta look like a typical evergreen tree but on stilts, they have their reasons.
But first, how do they get so tall? Coastal Redwoods have a secret weapon …fog. Typically the primary source of water for trees comes up from the roots. But trees can only pump water so high against the force of gravity. Luckily on the California coast we get a lot of fog. Redwoods are good at squeezing the water out of the fog, drinking it in thru their leaves and bark. Thus overcoming the limits of gravity.
coastal fog drifting up the valley
That is the how …but why? Why so tall? Why so gangly and top-heavy? Fire. The fires of today are destructive monsters driven by climate-change and white-man’s unrealistic belief that they could control nature instead of finding a way to work with her. The fire that heavily damaged Big Basin state park was one of those modern monsters. Before white man showed up the coastal Redwoods worked with nature. They evolved to survive the fires common throughout their history.
Their bark is fire-resistant and can be over a foot thick. And as Redwood trees grow they self-prune by dropping their lower branches. This allowed the lightning-started fires to burn thru the underbrush without reaching the branches and leaves …the tree’s powerhouse.
burned trees in Big Basin. even though the fire was hot enough to burn the leaves off the branches they will likely survive as new leaves are growing.
scorched bark of a Redwood tree. but the top of the tree was untouched by fire.
While the giant Sequoias do require the heat of fires to open its cones and drop seeds, coastal Redwoods do not need fire to drop their seeds. Although fire could help with germination. Coastal Redwoods also have other reproduction tricks. New trees can sprout from the roots of other Redwoods. Often will find them growing in rings. They also will grow from a fallen and dying Redwood tree. As the old tree decays a row new trees sprout.
When we bought our new home it came with about 10 acres of Redwood forest. And of course, surrounded by miles of Redwoods. Because the Santa Cruz mountains were so heavily logged in the past the Redwoods on our property are all 150 years or younger. There are local areas of old-growth Redwoods that were saved by early conservationists, nearby Big Basin was saved by the Sempervirens Club in the early 1900’s and turned into a state park. Regulations on logging got stronger as time went on but it has always been a battle. In 1997 Julia “Butterfly” Hill climbed up a Redwood tree in northern California and stayed there for 2 years to save an old-growth forest known as the “Headwaters.” Thankfully she won …a true hero.
The only sawing of logs in our little section of forest will be by me ...when I take an afternoon nap on the patio …looking out over our Redwood trees.
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who aren’t throwing pies at one another. So bring your stories, recipes, pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links to diaries or news stories that you think this community would appreciate. Or just drop by and tell us about your weather. Newcomers may notice that many who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
