There are three kinds of redwood trees: Coast redwoods, Dawn redwoods, and Giant sequoias. I have two of the three in my neighborhood. We have a sequoia in our backyard and there is a small grove of redwoods planted across the street at the school. We stopped last week to take a closer look at the redwood while we were out on a walk.
The bark of the redwood is spongy and in the photo above you can see how you can peel the bark in strand-like fibers. This tree is such an amazing creation and our family has found delight in learning the details of the life-cycle of this tree.
Here is an excerpt from the Save the Redwoods League website:
“The coast redwood is one of the world’s fastest growing conifers. In contrast to the tree’s size, redwood cones are very small — only about an inch long. Each cone contains 14 to 24 tiny seeds: It would take well over 100,000 seeds to weigh a pound! In good conditions, redwood seedlings grow rapidly, sometimes more than a foot annually. Young trees also sprout from their parent’s roots, taking advantage of the energy and nutrient reserves contained within the established, shallow root system.”
Isn’t this just amazing to see? I grew up with a Coast Redwood in my backyard but I don’t ever remember noticing this part of the growth cycle before. I love the way a more regular nature study has opened our eyes to the wonderful things right in our own neighborhood. Trees seem to become just part of the landscape unless we slow down for a closer look. I feel like a poet sometimes when we are looking at trees….words just seem to spill out. You cannot stand under one of these mammoth trees and not have a whole string of adjectives come to mind.
We are going to do some more research on the way the redwood will regenerate and I am sure this study will continue when we take our camping trip to coast of Northern California later this summer, a trip we have taken before but we are all eager to do again. A whole forest of redwoods is an experience to treasure.
Here I am last summer (2010) at Humbolt Redwoods in Northern California.
Does that give you an idea of how tall these trees are in real life?
I am trying to be more disciplined about adding to my nature journal regularly. It isn’t so much that I don’t want to take the time but rather that I always spend way more time than expected doing research, reading field guides, and then getting lost in joy of the actual journaling time. Even the simple task of sketching a small twig from the redwood into my nature journal brought into focus some special attributes that a casual glance could not reveal. I have been enjoying adding some photos to my entries and find that the combination of sketching, writing, and adding a photo brings me a great sense of satisfaction.
We have had a really busy week so the small square activity and our mammal study have been postponed. Guess who we will be learning about for our winter mammal study? Mr. Fox Squirrel!
I think especially with spring on edge here in the NW, I need to get back to nature sketching more often as well. Jon is constantly sketching, but I need to sketch as well. And it is silly really – because I LOVE it. Jon found a squirel as we were driving down the road and we had to back up and let him take a photo out the window. Ha! I added it to my facebook page. 😉 http://www.facebook.com/Petra.School
I, too, have been trying to take the time to do the sketching myself. I tend to spend so much time helping the kiddos, that I don’t do it myself. And yet, I love it! 🙂
Looking forward to hearing about your mammal study. We were going to begin ours yesterday but we got 5 inches of rain and were stuck indoors all day.
Love those redwoods. We don’t see many of those in our area and It’s a really beautiful tree. We’re actually reading a book now as a family. “Remarkable Trees of Virginia” It’s so interesting to learn of the history of trees in our state. My husband is esp. interested in them which I love because this is a joy he can share with our children.
Loved this post! Loved the photo of the nature journal entry. Reminds me that I too need to be more diligent about recording in my journal along side my children.
Beautiful trees…. no chance of seeing them around here though. I like your journal entry.
This is a sight I want my children to see as children, and again as adults. I imagine the size won’t feel much different. Amazing.
Truly amazing. That last photo says it all! And that they grow from such tiny cones – wow.
When I was on a trip for work I got to jaunt over to Sausalito’s Muir woods for an afternoon. I was young and silly and details were lost on me. But I did appreciate the enormity (and had my picture taken at the base of one of the giants).
The only spot that slightly compares on this side of the nation is the Joyce Kilmer National Forest in NC. (A search for same will bring up images of those big trees). That’s on our list of to-dos to show the children. “I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree…” Thoroughly enjoyed your magnificent redwoods!
when you put a photo in your nature journal, do you take the picture and immediately print it off and stick it in? It seems if I stop to print it off, I lose the moment. Also, do you have one of those little picture printers?
The redwoods are such a special place and they are worthy of being on everyone’s “must see” list.
Heather,
I print my own photos with my color printer using photo paper. I have a Canon printer that does a good job and I can print them in a few seconds rather than waiting to have them printed from Shutterfly or something like that.
Thanks for all the nice comments.