Monday, September 3, 2012

Montgomery Woods: Why Do Some Redwoods Twist?

I spent the morning yesterday with my house mate Michael, his girlfriend Kate, and her friend Carol at Montgomery Woods. Kate is leading nature walk this week in the grove and it was a blast sharing information and talking about these magnificent trees with others.
Upon leaving the grove, Kate asked, "Do you know why some redwoods appear to be twisting while others are not?" I had never really given it much thought, so I posted the question on the NTS web forum. Here's the results...


2 comments:

  1. Some trees even change the direction they are twisting in the course of their lifetime! I know that aboriginal people would use oak and hickory without any twisting to create bows and other tools. The spiraled trees were very strong and resilient and couldn't be carved easily. So spiraling in theory should increase the trees lifespan and its productivity! An excellent and mesmerizing feature.

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