What is two times taller than the statue of liberty and weighs about 4.5 million pounds? Oh just some tree in California.
The Redwood National Forest is located in the northern end of California, and is home to some of the tallest trees on the face of the earth. Redwood trees are among the largest species of trees in the world. These trees seem to never stop growing! One tree in particular holds the record at an astounding height of 369 feet.
Although these trees grow to the size of sky scrapers, their roots only grow down to about 6 feet into the ground. These massive trees get their steroids from the perfect growing conditions that they live in. The coastal humidity and the perfect altitude send these trees right out of the ground and into the sky.
If you are like me and enjoy relaxing in the shade, you might be thinking that it would be a good idea to buy some Redwoods seeds next time your are at Walmart and plant a few in your yard. Well unfortunately it isn’t all that simple, because most Redwoods live between 500 and 700 years! So unless you have found the fountain of youth, you probably won’t live to ever enjoy the shade.
With just one of these trees, you could have enough wood to build more than one hundred houses. Back in the day these trees attracted a lot of attention from lumberers because of their sizes and their resistances from rotting and bugs. Nowadays however, they are heavily protected because of their rarity and their massive impact in our ecosystem.
Redwoods are an amazing part of nature, and are quite the spectacle to see so if you aren’t used to seeing trees that are 30+ stories high. So next time you feel like you are just too tall, just be glad you aren’t a Redwood.
