Giant sequoias: There are less than 80,000 of these redwoods left in California,

[speak easy]

Last edited Mon Mar 18, 2024, 12:46 AM - Edit history (1)

... and half a million in the UK.

Redwoods are growing almost as fast in the UK as their Californian cousins

[A Redwood's] thick, spongy bark insulates against fire and disease, and they can survive severe winters and arid summers. Despite these challenges, these trees absorb and store CO₂ faster and in greater quantities than almost any other in the world, storing up to five times more carbon per hectare than even tropical rainforests. However, the changing climate means Californian giant sequoias are under threat from more frequent and extreme droughts and fires. More than 10 percent of the remaining population of around 80,000 wild trees were killed in a single fire in 2020 alone.

What is much less well-known is that there are an estimated half a million sequoias (wild and planted) in England, dotted across the landscape ...
These remarkable trees are being planted in an effort to help absorb carbon, but perhaps more importantly they are becoming a striking and much-admired part of the UK landscape..

So, how did these trees get here? Exotic plant collecting was big business in the 18th and 19th centuries, in large part as a display of wealth and taste. Giant sequoias were first introduced in 1853 by Scottish grain merchant and keen amateur collector Patrick Matthew, who gave them to friends. Later that same year commercial nurseryman William Lobb brought many more from California, along with accounts of the giant trees from which they came.

Giant sequoias quickly became a sensation and were planted to create imposing avenues, at the entrances of grand houses and estates, in churchyards, parks and botanic gardens. The letters about these trees helps us to accurately age planted trees, enabling us to calculate their growth rates.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/03/redwoods-are-growing-almost-as-fast-in-the-uk-as-their-californian-cousins/


Hamsterley Forest, UK