The Truth About Trees

This is the Founder’s Tree, the crown jewel of the Founder’s Trail at Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The tree measures 346.1ft in height, 12.7ft in diameter, its circumference and its lowest branch is 190.4ft off of the ground. It is a true redwood giant.

Check out my video about my trip to the park here.

More information about the Founder’s Grove: http://www.redwoodhikes.com/Humboldt/Founders.html

Woodpeckers are Hardcore

To prevent damage to the brain caused by the rapid and repeated impacts, woodpeckers have evolved several adaptations to protect the brain: it is small sized, orientations within the skull are such in order to maximize the area of contact with the skull and the brevity of contact. In the millisecond before each impact, a membrane covers the eye, protecting against shrapnel. The nostrils are small gaps and have special feathers to cap them. Thus, the woodpecker are capable of repeatedly pecking the wood of a tree, suffering deceleration in the order of 10,000 m/s. 

Dancing Dead Leaves by Yunfan Tan

Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight? Batman has, but surely the fallen leaves that have given their lives annually for a few thousand millennia know that feel as well, though Yunfan believes that need not be a saddening sacrifice: looping the withering process and turning it into an endless dance, the leaves’ way of saying this isn’t goodbye… just we’ll do this again next year.

By elvenrealm http://elvenrealm.tumblr.com/post/96891692765/swansong-willows-pinned-via-pinterest

Much has been written upon the effects of Coffee on the constitution, which by some are considered as highly salutary, and by others as very injurious. There is no possibility of reconciling accounts to contrary; but doubtless the effects are various upon different persons.

Throwback Thursday

This Giant Redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum ) was collected for the Field Museum’s collection in 1911. It was 22 ft in diameter. Record trees have been measured to be 311 ft (94.8 m) in height and over 56 ft (17 m)  in diameter.

© The Field Museum, CSB34454, Photographer Huron H. Smith.

8 men standing inside Giant Redwood tree trunk. Men in undercut of 22 foot diameter trees, Camp 20, Barnwood Lumber Company.

California Redwood Forest Expedition.

5x7 glass negative

You’re right, that’s just a rendering up there. But the designer of this tree, artist Sam Van Aken, is hoping to see the real things produce a similar sherbet rainbow when his “Trees of 40 Fruit” mature. Consider this the Frankenstein (or Mr. Stitch, if you saw that one) of grafting experiments.

Not a genetic experiment so much as a patient grafting of 40 different stone fruit branches onto a single trunk, this tree is designed to not only produce fruits of all sorts throughout the year, but create a stunning palette in the process. And according to Van Aken, it’s also about preserving uncommon local stone fruit varieties, some of which he stuffs into each tree he creates.

So far there are 16 young trees planted around the country. We’ll see what comes of them. Head through for the full story. —MN