Coastal Giant Redwoods
Muir Woods Sightseeing Attraction

Coast Redwoods are the most well known species of tree located in Muir Woods National Monument. This species of tree used to cover in much larger quantities and across broader parts of the northern hemisphere. They disappeared millions of years ago and reappeared only in southern Oregon and California. Some of the Coast Redwoods in Muir Woods are between the ages of 500-800 years old although some trees have been known to live longer.

Coast Redwoods' scientific name is Sequoia Sempervirens, and are known for their red-brown bark. The bark of coast redwoods is very thick (around 12 inches) and inside is fibrous, the bark of redwood trees when fresh is red-brown but as it interacts with the weather it tends to darken it. The bark also is very resistant to fire and insects. The roots of Coast Redwoods are shallow and wide spreading. The needles are dark green and differ according to the age of the tree, in younger trees the needles are 15-25 cm long and flat, and on older trees they are scale-like. The needles are arranged in a spiral pattern. Coast Redwoods have seed cones which is one of the ways the reproduce, the seed cones are pollinated in late winter with maturation 8-9 months after. Each seed cone has 3-7 seeds which fall out when the seed cone maturates when the cone scales dry out and open. Coast Redwoods are monoecious which means they have both pollen and seed cones.

In California they used to occupy, along with other trees, an estimated 2 million acres before the logging industry came to California. Today the trees only occupy a narrow strip located from southern Oregon to Monterey Bay because of fog. Fog as a vital natural irrigation system for the tall trees who can't get the water to the top rely on fog which explains the location where they grew up.

In the early 20th century people started to realize that almost all of those forests were cut down, but luckily the area that would become Muir Woods National Monument still had a large area left. Coast Redwood is a very popular lumber due to its fire resistance, resistance to decay, and its distinguished color. The features of its lumber make the Coast Redwood a very profitable lumber tree in California, there are now 364,000 ha of managed second growth Coast Redwood in California.

The oldest Coast Redwood lived to be 2,200 years old, and the tallest was 380 ft tall. The oldest Coast Redwood in Muir Woods is 1,100 years old, and the tallest is 258 ft tall. There are many different types of trees in Muir Woods, but Coast Redwoods make a lot of shade which effects the ecosystem. Coast Redwoods produce a high quantity of tannin in their bark which repels insects, and the large amount of shade causes less flowers and less fruit to be produced. This has made the bird population low in Muir Woods.