We had stopped at Fernwood Resort in Big Sur for dinner before returning to our cabin up the road at Riverside Campground*. We were talking about potential hikes for the next day when Jimmy mentioned the existence of albino redwood trees. What? No way. Lies! And no way for him to prove it without cell reception**. But Fernwood had wifi! So we looked it up, and it turns out they DO exist. And the nearest one? Yeah, right behind Fernwood, about 100' from where we were eating. It was already dark, so we decided to come back in the morning to check out the rare trees!
Albino Redwoods
They're parasites! Albino redwoods can't produce chlorophyll, so their needles aren't green, they're white. Without chlorophyll the trees cannot photosynthesize. So in order to eat, they leech nutrients from 'host' redwood trees by tapping into their root systems. Even with their stolen nutrients, they don't grow to be nearly as large as normal redwoods. They look more shrub-like.
Photos!
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So if you happen to be in Big Sur, stop by the Fernwood Resort and check out the albino redwood! Since the tree is so rare, Fernwood asks that you do not take any souvenir branches, noting that when the needles dry out they just look like normal redwood branches.
Sources
- Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albino_redwood
- Fernwood Resort: http://www.fernwoodbigsur.com/albino.html (includes a few photos)
- Discover Magazine: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2010/12/08/a-creepy-monster-of-the-forest-the-albino-vampiric-redwood-tree/
- SFGate article: http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/It-s-no-snow-job-handful-of-redwoods-are-rare-2519371.php
Notes
*We had a 1 bed + bath cabin at Riverside, and it was incredible. Stay there! :)
**No cell service made finding our campgrounds a bit tricky, but it was kinda nice to be phone-less.
