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Alright, if we start at the Simpson-Reed trail, then we’ll have plenty of time to visit other parts of the park in the afternoon...
Oh! Hi there! Squeaks and I are dreaming up plans for
a research trip we’d like to take someday.
It was really rainy last week, so we were re-watching some of our favorite episodes.
And we were reminded of how, a few years ago,
we learned about Hyperion, the tallest tree in the world.
Squeaks said he wished he could see that kind of really tall tree in person.
And we realized… we can!
If we go to the Redwood National and State Parks.
Though, we’ve got a lot of planning to do,
so it’s going to be a long time before we actually leave to go on our trip.
Good point, Squeaks!
That gives us plenty of time to learn all about the trees before we go visit them!
These trees are often called coast redwoods,
because they live on the western coast of North America,
and their wood is a pretty pinkish-red color.
They are a kind of conifer tree, meaning that they’re trees with seeds
hidden in cones, and they have long, thin, needles for leaves.
You’re right, Squeaks!
Those pine trees we have growing near The Fort are also conifers.
We know because they have needle-y leaves, and they make pine cones!
You may have seen conifers growing around where you live, too.
But what really sets redwoods apart from pine trees
and other conifers is how big they can grow.
Redwood trees can grow to over 100 meters tall.
That’s like if you stacked five 18-wheeler trucks up long-wise!
And their trunks are so wide, it can take more than 15 grownups
to reach their arms all the way around just one tree.
That is one big hug, Squeaks!
And part of why they’re so big is that they grow for a really long time.
Many of the full-grown redwood trees today are several hundred years old.
And some are well over a thousand years old!
But what I find most amazing is that these giant trees start out really small.
Their seeds are about the same size as a tiny tomato seed!
That’s a really good question.
Squeaks wonders how such little seeds can survive in a forest of big trees.
After all, the little seedlings that grow from them
need the same stuff all other plants need, like water.
And sunlight!
If you've ever walked through a forest,
you might have noticed how cool and shady it was.
Grownup redwood trees grow tall enough that they can reach
over other plants in the forest to get the light they need.
But the baby redwoods can’t do that yet,
and all the medium-sized plants in the forest make the ground really shaded.
Luckily, redwood parents help their seeds out
by waiting for the perfect moment before putting them out into the world.
They wait for a wildfire.
Yup! That’s because fires burn away many of the other plants,
which lets a lot more light reach the ground,
and clears out space for the baby trees to grow.
We call trees whose seeds rely on fires like this fire-dependent.
It does seem a little scary to have redwood trees in a fire,
but fire-dependent trees like redwoods don’t burn easily.
Like, those big adult redwoods have super thick bark, about 30 centimeters thick,
which is about the length of a ruler!
And this thick bark is also really wet.
So it usually protects the tree from fire.
In fact, after a forest fire, adult redwoods and the little baby redwoods
that sprout from their seeds may be among the only plants around,
at least for a little while, which is pretty nice for them.
So now we know how baby redwoods get sunlight…
but how do they get water?
It's actually pretty tricky!
Squeaks, do you remember what structure plants use to get water?
That’s right, their roots!
In a thick forest, there may not be enough room for a redwood seedling
to stretch out its roots enough to get all the water it needs.
And even if there is, there might not be enough water.
That's because baby redwoods sprout after wildfires,
which only happen when the air and the ground are both very dry.
That’s why, a lot of the time, new redwood trees don’t actually come from seeds.
Instead, they grow out of an older tree’s roots!
Can you imagine if people had babies this way?
It’d be like a kid growing out of my foot!
It is a pretty funny idea.
Still, it works out really well for the trees.
Since the new tree is connected to all of the older tree’s roots,
it can use them to soak up all the water that it needs.
And that helps the new trees grow tall really fast, as fast as a meter per year!
That’d be like growing a whole new Squeaks’ worth of height every 12 months!
This works so well for them that you’ll sometimes see
a whole ring of young trees growing up from the roots of an ancient redwood.
That’s a great idea.
When we go on our trip, we can try to find young redwoods that grew from seeds,
and some that are growing out of an older tree.
Squeaks and I are going to keep learning as much as we can about redwoods
while we wait to go and see them ourselves.
We can’t wait to share everything we learn with you!
If you’d like to learn more about redwoods, and discover a whole world of science,
hit the subscribe button below.
We’ll see you next time, here at the Fort.