Albino redwood

Foliage of an 'albino' redwood

An 'albino'^{[lower-alpha 1]} redwood is a redwood tree which is unable to produce chlorophyll, and so has white needles instead of the normal green. In order to survive it must join its roots to the roots of a normal redwood, usually the parent tree from whose base it has sprouted, from which it obtains nutrition as a parasite.^[1][2][3] Only about sixty examples are known.^[2] These can be found in both Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and Humboldt Redwoods State Park, with eight trees in the first. However, the exact locations are not publicized to protect the rare trees.^[4] They reach a maximum height of about 20 m (66 ft).^[1] Other conifers lack the ability to graft their roots, and so 'albino' mutants of other species do not survive to become sizable trees.^[1]

The trees were important to Native Americans and were recorded in their legends. For example, the Pomo People used them in their cleansing ceremonies.^[5]

There are also 10 cases known of chimeric redwoods that have a mosaic of albino and normal tissues.^[6] There is only a single chimeric redwood known that produces cones. Formerly threatened by the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit rail development,^[7] it has since been replanted.^[8]

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  An 'albino' redwood in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, northern California.

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  Another example.

Notes

References

• Davis, D. F.; Holderman, D. F. (1 February 1980). The white redwoods: ghosts of the forest. Naturegraph Publishers. ISBN 978-0-87961-088-3.