Chris on Caltrain told me he heard a story on KQED about albino redwoods. I was dubious but they do exist.
Chris told me about it because he knows I live close to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, where KQED did the story. The main visitor center is just a 10 minute bike ride for me — about the same as driving because I can use a closed road as a shortcut and cut through the Mount Hermon Conference Center. And on bike, entry to California State Parks is free, versus $10 these days to park at many state parks and beaches.
Out of a total of about two dozen albino redwoods known to exist in the world, eight are located at Henry Cowell. A visitor brochure at the park told me one of these trees is on the popular Redwood Loop Trail. I’ve walked the Redwood Loop probably dozens of times, but I never paid much attention to what I previously assumed was just a sickly, dying tree. Once you know where to look, though, its astonishingly stark to see. The albino redwood looks a bit like a scraggly flocked Christmas tree, but on closer examination you can see the needles aren’t dried and dead, but plump and alive.
![Albino Redwood](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5094/5511200078_ec973d2f0f.jpg)
Albino redwoods struggle to survive because they lack chlorophyll. This is ordinarily a death sentence for plants, but these mutants tap into the root of their parent tree and lives as parasites. A few other trees — poplars, aspen, birch, and birch — are also known to have short lived parasitic albinos.
You can learn more about these magical “ghost trees” (and see a little of where I live) in this KQED “Science on the Spot” video.
QUEST on KQED Public Media.
yeah but if you don’t pay the parking fee the parks will be closed for a lack of funding
There’s something to that — $80M of last year’s $114M parks budget came from “user fees” and concession income. But I also supported Prop 21 last year ($18 vehicle registration fee for parks) but that one failed.
If you look at any park entrance or near a state beach, you’ll see a large number of drivers also don’t pay the parking fee. They park just outside of the park or beach entrance on the side of the road.
There’s something to that — $80M of last year’s $114M parks budget came from “user fees” and concession income. But I also supported Prop 21 last year ($18 vehicle registration fee for parks) but that one failed.
If you look at any park entrance or near a state beach, you’ll see a large number of drivers also don’t pay the parking fee. They park just outside of the park or beach entrance on the side of the road.