7. Coast Redwood

Specimen Size: 120ft tall, 57.5in in diameter.

Species Overview: 

This is the Coast Redwood, straight and tall, its dark green foliage drooping gracefully downwards on narrow branches, its bark true to its name as a deep reddish blend. This species is well known for producing the tallest trees in the world, with an average mature height of 200-325’, but known to achieve more than 380’ (115m) on the tallest known living specimens. The specimens here on campus are definitely impressive, but they are nothing compared to the old-growth giants found in this species’ native range in California. There, in lush coastal forests, the Coast Redwood forms stands more magnificent than any other on the planet! The needles of this fine tree are dark on top, much lighter beneath, forming a dense crown and growing off either side of the branch. They produce small thimble size cones, but seed viability is low. Redwoods reproduce mainly asexually via clonal sprouts from the root crown, stumps, or fallen branches. Indigenous communities with traditional territories along the California coast, like the Yurok and Chumash, have since time immemorial used the wood for canoes, houses, furniture, and as ceremonial tools. 

Unfortunately, in addition to being one of the most supremely spectacular arboreal creations on the planet, the Coast Redwood also produces splendid fine-grained, rot-resistant, light weight, and beautifully colored wood coveted by the lumber industry. While these traits allow untouched specimens to live to an excess of 3,000 years, greedy harvest has resulted in the logging of 95% of the old growth redwood forests of the world, with the remainder almost exclusively within the bounds of State and National Parks. Currently, only 22% of the remaining Coast Redwood forest is protected from logging and development, and there is good cause to support the many groups dedicated to preserving these forests. It is also important to remember that forestry represents the livelihoods and legacies of many rural families in the Pacific Northwest. Proper management of our forests balances the immense biodiversity of these habitats with the human need for raw materials and jobs. Incidentally, the Coast Redwood thrives spectacularly in Western Washington, for those wishing to plant one at home to enjoy their beauty first hand! (Be sure to give them space to grow, they’re fast)!

Non-Native to PNW

Native Range: Central and Northern California coast

Identifying Features: A member of the Sequoia clan, this tree exhibits the size and grandeur associated with the name of “redwood”. This specimen, although quite large compared to many of the trees on this tour, is a mere fraction of the size of the largest of its kind, which can reach a staggering 200-325’ in on average at mature height. The tallest however go even further, with the largest known being an enormous 397’ (115m) in height! The diameter, while not as huge as its relative the Giant Sequoia, can still reach an impressive diameter of up to 15’ (4.6 m). The tree is not grand simply for its size, it is also beautiful, with deep red-brown bark in long fibrous strips surrounding a trunk which supports a thick crown of evergreen needles dark green above and lighter green below (although not as significantly so as the similar looking Pacific Yew tree which is a native of Washington state). The boughs are often drooping and sometimes don’t appear for dozens or perhaps even hundreds of feet up the tree. Older specimens can be as much as 2200 years old, but an intense campaign of logging since european colonization has led to a monumental decrease in the extent of old growth redwood habitats, which are now limited to a very small area of the Northern California coast and are not all protected to this day.

Identifying Features In Depth:

1. Form: Immensely tall with high apical control and a distinctive pyramidal to cylindrical shape, with a thick canopy often beginning far up the tree. Trunk is very buttressed at the base, often with large round swellings called burls that may produce sucker growth that can grow into full sized trees. Crown is short and often narrow, with irregular horizontal to drooping branches.

2. Leaves: Evergreen and needlelike, unequal in size but less than an inch in length (10-19mm), usually flat or slightly curved with dark green tops and whitish green bottoms. Leaves grow horizontally out of the branches spreading in two disting rows like that of Pacific Yew or the Grand fir (though the leaves of the redwood are often much shorter than the needles of those two). Leaves on leaders are scalelike and concave wrapped around the twig and giving way to it over time.

3. Bark: A deep rich reddish brown, growing in thick fibrous strips deeply furrowed to form immensely broad scaly ridges. The inner bark when exposed is cinnamon in color.

4. Reproductive Bodies: These trees can produce small (1.5” or 3cm ) cones of elliptical shape and reddish brown color, composed of many short pointed scales. They hang down at the end of twigs and contain between 2 and 5 seeds which are winged and light brown in color. New growth can also appear in the burls or from the roots, leading to a ring of clone trees growing around the site where formerly a single individual produced them from the base.