Admiring the life force in Redwood Trees

From my recent adventure in Redwoods National and State Parks, the redwood trees left a huge impression. National Parks published a short piece on the redwoods, and Wikipedia dove into the trees’ origins.

Here is a snippet from the Parks’ publication:

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.

The redwoods’ unusual ability to regenerate also aids in their survival as a species. They do not rely solely upon sexual reproduction, as many other trees must. New sprouts may come directly from a stump or downed tree’s root system as a clone. Basal burls — hard, knotty growths that form from dormant seedlings on a living tree — can sprout a new tree when the main trunk is damaged by fire, cutting, or toppling

About the Trees – Redwood National and State Parks (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

The life force contained and exhibited by the trees is just remarkable. They never seem to die, and in the odd case when death takes a tree, another often grows out of the decaying tree. I was so impressed, a separate blog post just about the trees.

How something that large can last so long … amazes me as well.

When I think about the impact redwoods have within their ecosystem and the larger environment, I am humbled at their impact vs a human. If trees could be gods, the redwoods would certainly be … they just seem to thrive and continue on, regardless (that is, unless a human cuts them down).