Albino Tree Brings White Christmas
to Humboldt County Redwood Forests
Eureka--There's
no beach location in California that offers the look and feel of the Christmas
holiday more than stunning Humboldt County. Home to the giant redwood forests
that visitors from around world flock to see, there are forests filled
with the world's tallest living trees and some special favorites that truly
bring meaning to the term, White Christmas.
The rare
Albino Tree
A 20-foot tall
albino tree with white pine needles, Spirit Tree, sprouts from the base of a
giant redwood in a redwood grove about three miles north of the town of Redcrest,
and less than an hour's drive south of Eureka. If you've never seen the redwood forests in amazing
Humboldt County, you have to go! The winter season with cooler temps and often a
sprinkling of rain brings the cozy holiday feel that beach-goers long for.
But you can visit this amazing tree all year long and feel like a White
Christmas any time.
With less than a two dozen (24) albino redwoods in existence, this rare
white-colored redwood grows by tapping into the roots of a nearby redwood tree
for sustenance. It lacks chlorophyll, the green substance that allows
plants to convert sunlight into food, so its needles never turn green.
Typical redwoods use sunlight so efficiently (3-4 times more than pines) that
they can grow even in deep shade, and they usually grow beautiful green needles.
The unique "white
tree" mutation is recorded in Native American legends such as Pomo Indian
traditions, according to a historian who found reference to this unique conifer
and its use in cleansing ceremonies. Six of
these rare "forest ghosts" live in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. You may think
of them as Ghosts of Christmas Past (from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.)
Indeed, if the trees in these redwood forests could speak they would be the
longest living historians.
Amidst a 450-mile
stretch of Pacific Coast beginning in southern Oregon not far from
Humboldt County, and ending just south of Monterey, California, visitors
can look at the oldest verified redwood trees dated to at least 2,200 years of
age (foresters believe that some may be much older.) The coast redwoods of
Humboldt County are the tallest living species on Earth, often reaching heights
of 300 to 350 feet. Standing six stories taller than the Statue of Liberty, a
coastal redwood tree, Hyperion, in northern Humboldt County's Redwood National
Park, was recently measured at 378.1 feet!
The dazzling
forests of Humboldt County offer many unique, one-of-a-kind trees to see, with two of the rare
albino redwoods located near the Avenue of the Giants. This 30-mile
stretch of old Highway 101 that cuts through Humboldt Redwoods State Park is home
to the largest remaining stand of virgin redwoods in the world.
For more
information about visiting Humboldt County where these trees are located, and to
learn about fantastic Victorian buildings, hotels, bed and breakfast inns,
historic museums, art, shopping and superb dining, contact Humboldt County
Convention & Visitors Bureau, 1034 2nd Street, Eureka CA 95501. Call:
(800) 346-3482. redwoods.info |
