Coast Redwood

The Coast Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirens) is part of the Cypress Family and its an evergreen tree. It goes by a few names , some call it the California Redwood but usually it is just referred to as the Redwoods. The original Coast Redwoods still standing stretches from a creek in Big Sur , down a mountain (Mount Mars), up the California Coast to Southern Oregon . Along the California coast the fog dominates most of the time , providing ideal conditions for the redwoods, especially during the summer.

Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world , with the tallest standing at 379 feet.It is also one of the fastest growing cone-bearing trees in the world .With good temperatures and moisture , they can grow 2-3 feet a year. It has a fibrous bark that protects it from most natural forest fires and a shallow root systems that spreads a great distance, often creating a network with the roots of surrounding Redwoods.

It produces seeds from cones but does not bear flowers . The trees contain both male and female organs . The female cone produces a billion seeds during which an average of only one seed may mature into a Redwood tree. These seeds are produced during the cone years , which are known as years with perfect conditions for the seeds to grow. These years do not happen often.

The modern Redwood may be 20 million to up to 50 million years old . The first redwood fossil cones found by Paleobotanist date back to 190million years ago which would be the early jurassic period . But the oldest living redwood is estimated to be around 2000-3000 years old .

Coastal redwoods are currenlty under the endangered species , with only 4% of old growth left and only 2.5% out of the 4% of the old growth is being protected. It contains a rich biodiversity both on the ground and in the canopy. Each tree has its own ecosystem and there are so many species of living things living on and in the Redwoods that are still yet to be seen by any human .