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Cretaceous coal deposits contain fossil records of Coast Redwoods looking very much like they do today. Redwoods were once much more widely distributed, however. The remains of a grove have been found in Costa Mesa, California, but today the Redwoods are restricted to a narrow, noncontiguous coastal strip from upper San Luis Obispo County to Brooking, Oregon (just over the California border). This is temperate rainforest with an annual rainfall of 60" - 140" and an additional 12" or so of precipitation in the form of fog drip.

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Redwood

Sequoia sempervirens; Bald Cypress Family

• common name Coast Redwood
• the tallest trees in the world
• tiny seeds: there are120,000 per pound!
• evergreen
• life span of 1500 years
• grows as high as 350 feet at maturity
• the tallest living tree ever found is a Coast Redwood nicknamed “Hyperion” in Redwood National Park. It is 378 feet tall!
• the base of the trunk has burls capable of resprouting. The reddish brown bark is very thick and spongy. the needles are flat, soft, pointed and 1/2” to 1” long, two-ranked and arranged in flat sprays. Male and female flowers are found on the same tree. The cone is about the size and shape of a large grape
• Native Americans used the wood for structures and canoes

Our State Tree
Sequoia sempervirons (Coast Redwood) and Sequoiadendron giganteum (Giant Sequoia)

In 1937, the California Legislature named the native redwood as California’s official state tree, without noting that there are two different redwood species native to California.

In 1951, California's Attorney General ruled that both of the native California redwood species qualified as our official State Tree.

In 1953, in an effort to clarify the law, the California Legislature amended it to recognize both trees, Sequoia sempervirens and Sequoia gigantea, as the official State Tree, but they used an outdated classification. The currently accepted scientific name for the Giant Sequoia is actually Sequoiadendron giganteum.

Wax Myrtle

Morella californica; Sweet Gale Family

• 6 - 10 foot shrub or small tree can reach 50 feet tall
• bark is smooth, thin, gray or light brown
• male bracts are light brown and papery; female bracts are found on different branches and are greenish
• flower March - April
• brown-purple fruits about 1/2 inch in diameter; June - August

Tanbark Oak

Lithocarpus densiflora; Beech Family

• not a true oak (but related to the oak family)
• evergreen tree with a narrow conical crown; 60 - 150 feet tall at maturity; trunk 3 - 7 feet in diameter
• bark is thick and fissured
• male flowers are yellowish-white in erect catkins; brown-green female flowers are at the base of the catkins; blooms June - October
• fruit (acorns) September - November
• tannin is extracted from the bark and used to tan leather

Redwood Sorrel

Oxalis oregana; Wood Sorrel Family

• short-stemmed perennial; often stemless above ground
• compound leaves are longhaired, green on top and deep purple underneath
• flowers have 5 petals and are white or pink; blooms February - December
• fruits are found September - December

Other Groundcover

Pteridium aquilinum	Polystichum munitum