Redwoods are massive, elegant trees, known as the tallest on the planet. The largest of these, the Coastal Redwood, are located in just a few places of the California and Oregon coast and are sadly, endangered.
While these massive beauties once had a range of more than 2 million acres, they were cut down for timber at alarming rates in the 1900s, resulting in just 5% of their habitat remaining today.
If you’ve never visited Redwood National Park, we can’t recommend it enough. It’s a gorgeous and humbling place, a startling reminder of nature’s power, but also its fragility.
Below are nine of our favorite facts about these beautiful giants. Inspired from Treehugger
1. Giant redwoods can reach higher than any other tree, the tallest an amazing 379 feet into the air, taller than a 35 story building.
2. These enormous trees are also ancient, and can live well over 2,000 years. The oldest known living Redwoods was over 3,000 years old.
3. These massive trees have deceptively tiny pinecones. Indeed, their cones are only about an inch in length. Amazing, the power of a seed.
4. Their bark is up to 12 inches thick, giving them ample protection against forest fires and other pests. Strong tannins in their bark also prevent against insects.
5. They intertwine their roots with other redwoods, to aid in stability. And while their roots often reach down only six to twelve feet, they can extend laterally up to 100 feet or more.
6. The very tallest coastal redwood, named Hyperion, has its location kept secret, to protect it from potential vandals or other unkind humans that might do it damage. It reaches an astonishing 379 feet into the air.
7. They rely on clouds of fog to get their moisture, and their delicate ecosystem on the Pacific coast means that they are very susceptible to drought.
8. They have entire ecosystems high up in their canopies. These massive trees are so large and tall that their branches host mats of soil that can support birds, insects, salamanders, and mammals. There are even other trees growing out of upper branches of the redwoods, some as large as 40 feet tall themselves.
9. They store more CO2 than any other forest. Their importance to the world’s healthy climate is huge, aside from being some of the most beautiful and magical trees anywhere on the planet.
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