Re: burl plants (was (Re Redwood circles)

For woody plants that are adapted to regular wildfire by resprouting from a
burl, the top growth, however large and impressive, is a transitory event.
The lifespan of an individual encompasses many successive regrowths of the
top, while the burl just keeps on getting older.  We hope wildfire is not a
regular event in our gardens, though I wonder if plants adapted in this way
are strengthened by the occasional renewal.
-----Original Message-----
From: Sean A. O'Hara <sean.ohara@groupmail.com>
To: Medit-Plants <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
Date: Wednesday, September 13, 2000 10:11 AM
Subject: Re Redwood circles (was: (2) Lifespans)


>At 03:05 PM 9/13/00 +1000, you wrote:
>>>theryans@xtra.co.nz writes:
>>>An interesting thing about the redwoods, they grow quite fast and also
>>>live for a long time. They definately dont fit the fast growing quick
>>>dying category ;).
>
>Redwoods are interesting from a lifespan point of view.  They do grow fast
>(I have one adjacent to my garden) and are very hard to kill (other than
>digging out the entire bulk of the monster!!!).  They also tend to regrow
>from their burls when damaged or fallen.  A fallen giant can even sprout
>along their length optimal circumstances.  So it can be very hard to
>actually put an age on a specimen as it can be a remnant of a very old ring
>of trees, all of which ultimately came from a single specimen many
>non-seedling generation before.
>
>My wife and I were married (23 years ago) in a natural redwood ring in the
>hills behind Saratoga, California.  The trees, each an identical clone to
>the others in the ring, were very closely spaced together, almost a perfect
>circle, forming a cathedral-like space inside, with only a couple of wide
>openings for entrance and exit.  Inside, there was enough space to hold 200
>seated people easily.  I remember that the guest were a bit surprised when
>they arrived at the park in their nice clothes and good shoes.  They
>thought we were going to make them hike into the hills!!  But this redwood
>'chapel' was next to the parking lot and they all couldn't believe it as
>they entered the space, a close circle of probably 15 trees, each with a
>soaring unbranched trunk at least 75ft before the foliage began.  And it
>was so much more quiet within.  After years of visitors, the ground was
>mostly level and easy to walk, covered with a natural mulch of redwood
>needles and branchlets.  It was truly impressive.
>
>Sean O.
>
>h o r t u l u s   a p t u s     -    'a garden suited to its purpose'
>Sean A. O'Hara        fax (707) 667-1173     sean.ohara@groupmail.com
>710 Jean Street, Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
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