Today, the redwoods are one of the most symbolically important of all tree species, revered by millions of people for the aesthetic and other intangible values provided by the remaining groves of immense, majestic trees.
A grove of ancient redwoods is one of the finest sights anywhere on the planet. If you can’t see a grove then you can, at least, see this one tree and imagine what a grove must look like.
Superlatives abound when a person tries to describe old-growth redwoods: immense, ancient, stately, mysterious and powerful. But the trees were not designed for easy assimilation into language. Their existence speaks for themselves, not in words, but rather in a soft-toned voice of patience and endurance.
From a seed no bigger than one from a tomato, California's coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) may grow to a height of 367 feet and have a width of 22 feet at its base. Imagine a 35-story skyscraper in your city and you have an inkling of the trees' ability to arouse humility.
Some visitors to California envision dinosaurs rumbling through these forests in bygone eras. It turns out that this is a perfectly natural thought. Fossil records have shown that relatives of today's coast redwoods thrived in the Jurassic Era 160 million years ago. And while the fantastic creatures of that age have long since disappeared, the redwoods continue to thrive, in the right environment.
California's North Coast provides the only such environment in the world. A combination of longitude, climate, and elevation limits the redwoods' range to a few hundred coastal miles. The cool, moist air created by the Pacific Ocean keeps the trees continually damp, even during summer droughts. These conditions have existed for some time, as the redwoods go back 20 million years in their present range.
Exactly why the redwoods grow so tall is a mystery. Theories continue to develop but proof remains elusive. The trees can reach ages of 2,000 years and regularly reach 600 years.
Resistance to natural enemies such as insects and fire are built-in features of a coast redwood. Diseases are virtually unknown and insect damage insignificant thanks to the high tannin content of the wood. Thick bark and foliage that rests high above the ground provides protection from all but the hottest fires.
Undoubtedly the most important environmental influence upon the coast redwood is its own biotic community. The complex soils on the forest floor contribute not only to the redwoods' growth, but also to a verdant array of greenery, fungi, and other trees. A healthy redwood forest usually includes massive Douglas-firs, western hemlocks, tanoaks, madrones, and other trees. Among the ferns and leafy redwood sorrels, mosses and mushrooms help to regenerate the soils. And of course, the redwoods themselves eventually fall to the floor where they can be returned to the soil.
This has inadvertantly turned into a series covering specimen trees in and around Stirling.
If you are interested in communing with Nature, learning about trees, or just bagging a cache give them a visit.
The others in the series are –
The Big Sycamores GC1EDN4
The Sequiadendron giganteum of Gillies Hill GC1H74Q
Sylvester, the Scots Pine GC1EDNP
The Perfect Tree GC1FC71
The Pedunculate Oak of Touch GC1H9XD
and this one Sequoia sempervirens. GC1HDY4