Old Postcard Wednesday--The Elephant Tree at Trees of Mystery, Redwood Highway, Calif.

 

I love the accidental art 
of the coffee cup rings 
on the back of this 
postcard featuring a 
tree with many hundreds
of age-indicating rings.







Consider this for a moment:

Ancient Redwoods

These largest of living things are from an ancient line, and near-redwoods were present on earth at the same time as the dinosaur. Once found almost world-wide, their natural range is now restricted to the foggy coastal belt of Northern California (the sequoia sempervirens), a strip in the Sierra Nevada mountains of sequoiadendron gigantia and a small group of meta sequoia (Dawn Redwood) in a remote valley in China. These are the only living forests left of a tree line that at one time spanned the earth. 

The above paragraph is taken from the About Redwoods sidebar tab at the Trees of Mystery. The website
 introduces itself and the park with these words:

Directly in the center of the Redwood National and State Parks, we are CALIFORNIA'S REDWOOD nature attraction and have been welcoming visitors to this part of the world for over 50 years. We are the premier Nature Attraction on California's North Coast.  Welcome to the California Redwoods!

It is an interesting website, with a tab featuring three of the "Big Trees" (great photos), but nothing specifically about The Elephant Tree. Not having it mentioned at the website when in the past there were postcards published about it makes me wonder (and hope not) that it may have rotted or burned. With an attraction that includes shopping, dining, and the "Sky Trail," a gondola ride up in the treetops, maybe The Elephant Tree simply lost favor with tourists and is no longer a big deal. I did see it mentioned as late as 2006 in comments at one of those online travel sites.

In any case, The Elephant Tree and the other trees at Trees of Mystery and Redwoods National and State Parks are Redwoods, or sequoia sempervirens, while the tree that many of you saw in the video released last week...the twin-giant that fell in a California forest, with the fall captured by a tourist from Germany, was a Giant Sequoia, or sequoiadendron gigantia. It was not in northern California with the Redwoods, but was in the Sequoia National Forest, inside Giant Sequoia National Monument.

This map indicates in a yellow block the location of The Redwood National Forest, which is near the area of the Trees of Mystery (site of The Elephant Tree).  [Source: Redwood National Park website]

This map from the Sequoia National Forest website shows the location where the Sequoia recently fell to the forest floor.








I've written in prior post(s) that the difference between Redwoods and Sequoias became important to me when, eleven years ago, we purchased the small divided lot to the side and back of our house in order to save the three Giant Sequoias living there from certain removal. That happened to their sibling (once there were four) on the part of the divided lot we did not purchase, and an ordinary house replaced it. A neighbor counted the rings of the felled Sequoia before the stump removal crews came, and I recorded the age on our calendar. Our three trees just celebrated their 83rd birthday! They are mere babes compared to the naturally-growing Sequoias and Redwoods! Some of you may remember a video (1.57) I posted in February of our dogs enjoying a light snowfall under the Sequoias in our yard. It may be viewed here.  

• To view that short but amazing video clip of the twin-Sequoias falling, click here.

• To read the Forest Service press release dated September 30, 2011, see Giant Sequoia Tree Falls, Forces Closure of Trail of 100 Giants.

• A park ranger discusses the historic occasion of the Sequoias falling while viewing several scenes of the fallen trees in this video. 

• For the true story about what Ronald Reagan had to say about trees, specifically Redwoods, visit this factsheet at snopes.

To further assist you in identifying the differences between Redwoods and Sequoias I am going to post the entire information page from the National Park Service, as I think it is most excellent.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GIANT SEQUOIA AND REDWOOD

ALTHOUGH the giant sequoia and redwood are closely related, they exhibit many individual characteristics that distinguish them from each other. Perhaps the following major differences will help to answer some of the questions that may come to mind.

Natural habitat.—The giant sequoia is found growing singly or in groups scattered for a distance of 250 miles along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in central California at elevations of 4,000 to 8,000 feet. The redwood grows near the Pacific Ocean along the northern California coast in a more or less continuous belt about 450 miles long and 15 miles wide. (See Distribution Map on the Inside Back Cover.)

Method of reproduction.—Both species reproduce from seed, but the redwood is one of the few conifers that is also able to develop sprouts from cut stumps, roots, and burls.

Foliage.—The foliage of the giant sequoia is scalelike and somewhat resembles that of the junipers; redwood foliage is in the form of two-ranked needles like the hemlock.

Shape and size.—The giant sequoia is the largest tree in the world in volume and has an immense trunk with very slight taper; the redwood is the world's tallest tree and has a slender trunk.

Cones and seed.—The cones and seed of the giant sequoia are about three times the size of those produced by the redwood.

Woody structure.—The wood of the giant sequoia is much coarser in texture than that of the redwood, and growth rings of the redwood are wider. Both woods are highly resistant to decay.

Color of bark.—The bark of the giant sequoia is bright reddish brown, whereas that of the redwood is a dull chocolate brown.

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Old Postcard Wednesday--California Redwoods along 199 highway

I thought I must post this particular old postcard today because a hungry pixie commented after last week's postcard of Yellowstone Park that his family had visited the U.S. when he was a kid and visited one national park with "very, very, very tall trees." I thought he must have seen Sequoia National Park but it is likely that they visited Redwoods National Park. One or the other. And if you -- like I -- have wondered about the difference a one-page fact sheet here at the Sequoia National Park website just might give you the same kind of Aha! moment I had when I read it.

The postmark on the back of this old postcard is 1954. Add another 56 years to the age of these trees when the photo was taken and you're talking trees that are old.

The statistics which describe the redwood are truly amazing. These giants can live 2000 years, may weigh upwards of 500 tons, and reach over 350 feet in height. A feeling for this experience can be gained in the picture below, showing a view of a tree more than 250 feet in height. As they grow upwards the redwoods usually lose their lower limbs, producing a canopy over the forest. ~Park Vision, Redwood National Park

I found an online document prepared by the National Park Service in 1969, and reprinted in 1982, that sounds perhaps dry if you judge by the title, but it is not dry and it has a wealth of information about the Redwood National Park. From Redwood National Park History Basic Data the following is found in the final paragraphs:

The long and difficult campaign of almost 60 years that ended in October 1968 with the establishment of the Redwood National Park is a story that can thrill the visitor. Many groups and individuals were involved. In interpreting the struggle to preserve significant stands of redwoods, the Service can teach valuable lessons in conservation and of man and his environment.

The memorial groves in the three California State Parks are valuable resources. In each a memorial grove served as the nucleus around which these magnificent areas grew and developed. To secure funds to acquire additional redwood acreage, the Save-the-Redwoods League, encouraged benefactors to designate groves as living memorials to deceased members of their families, friends, or in honor of individuals whom they admired. Thus in the three state parks authorized for inclusion in Redwood National Park there are a number of memorial groves.

Redwood National Park was dedicated by Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson on November 25, 1968. A website describing the Lady Bird Johnson Grove is interesting reading as it tells of the founding memorial grove while also giving good information on the redwood tree itself (portions below):

President Lyndon Johnson signed the bill designating the original park, and in 1969 his wife was present for the dedication ceremony, at which then president Richard Nixon combined the dedication ceremony with a birthday party for LBJ and dedicated the founding grove to Mrs. Johnson. LBJ and Ronald Reagan* also attended the ceremony, meaning this location once hosted 3 of the 43 men who have served as president of the United States. The dedication ceremony was held in the now-named Lady Bird Johnson Grove, and midway through the walk through the grove a plaque . . . commemorates that ceremony.

This spot in the grove is truly spectacular, given the size of the trees which are located there. Sitting on the bench, or standing on the trail among the huge trees in the grove, it is amazing to realize that these trees once covered vast areas of the earth. In fact, 25 million years ago the trees stretched across North America. . .

. . . Most of the height of a redwood tree is gained during the first 100 years. A redwood may grow 30 feet in the first 20 years. After this early period, a redwood may gain 2 to 6 feet in height and 1 inch in diameter per year. Between 100 and 200 years, the tree typically reaches 200 to 350 feet in height. After 400 years, a redwood tree's trunk may average 5 to 7 feet in diameter, although 10 to 15 foot trunks are possible. A 1000 year old redwood thus has gained most of its height in the first 100 years, and once reaching great heights grows mainly in width. The first recorded measurements of these great trees was accomplished by Josiah Gregg.

Park Vision, Redwood National Park explains the expansion to the park's current size:

In 1978, a major expansion of the park took place as a result of efforts by the Sierra Club and others. 48,000 acres were added to the park. This expansion doubled the size of the park. Areas which had been logged and damaged began to be rehabilitated, and in many places in the park areas which were once clear cut and through which logging roads once ran now appear to be natural, although the loss of a 500 year old tree cannot be reversed so quickly.

Establishment and maintenance of this park has been a significant achievement. Truly the last stand of the giant redwood, after 1978 fully one half of all remaining old growth redwoods on earth are contained within the boundaries of Redwood National Park and the three associated state parks.

*Finally, the comment, "If you've seen one redwood you've seen them all" that is attributed to then-Governor Ronald Reagan is actually a paraphrase of this statement by him on March 12, 1966 in an address to the Western Wood Products Association:

I think, too, that we've got to recognize that where the preservation of a natural resource like the redwoods is concerned, that there is a common sense limit. I mean, if you've looked at a hundred thousand acres or so of trees -- you know, a tree is a tree, how many more do you need to look at?

~You can read the one-page fact sheet that gives the background of this infamous comment  
here at Snopes.com. (Oh, how I loathed that man.)


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