Sequoia semprevirens, Coast Redwood (7)


The campus has several Coast Redwood groves. One is located on the road to the north of McCone Hall. Another is along the North Fork of Strawberry Creek, west of Haviland Hall. The Coast Redwood, Sequoia semprevirens, is another amazing California tree: it is the tallest tree in the world (Stuart and Sawyer, 2001, Cockrell, 1976, Metcalf, 1959). The tallest is 365 feet tall (i.e. 65 feet longer than a football field). Redwood groves are surpassed only by groves of Sequoiadendron giganteum (the Giant Sequoias) in stand biomass. Redwoods are erect, single stemmed, coniferous evergreens that can reproduce both by seed and from shoot.

Redwoods are native to the San Francisco Bay Area and can be found up and down the Pacific coast (Metcalf, 1959). Redwood trees need a lot of moisture; but at the same time, they cannot tolerate heavy, salty winds directly from the Pacific (Stuart and Sawyer, 2001). As a result, they are often found in valleys just inland of the coast. They are generally known as a fog-belt species that get most of their moisture from the dense Pacific fog (Barbour and Major, 1988). However, a high level of soil moisture availability can also provide enough water, as is the case for some inland stands of Redwoods. The rather unhealthy McCone Hall grove substitutes natural fog with a steam vent, and the much better off Strawberry Creek Grove gets much of its moisture from the stream.

The Redwood has a grand history in the Bay Area, and was the focus of much of the preservation effort on the Marin Peninsula, particularly the John Muir Grove, in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Where it is not protected, the Redwood is a valuable timber species. Its wood is both rot resistant and easy to work with.
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