Newly Discovered Tree Looks Like Darth Vader

Monica Garske

Dec. 17) -- "Star Wars" conventions are usually held in major cities, but from now on, devoted fans may want to gather smack dab in the middle of a forest -- at Redwood National Park, to be precise.


Several weeks ago, the national park, located just north of Eureka, Calif., opened its first new hiking trail in 10 years, and it appears the Force is strong with the brand-new path.

Redwood enthusiast Richard Stenger, of the Humboldt County Convention and Visitors Bureau, told AOL News that a major surprise awaits imaginative visitors on the trail: a giant redwood tree that resembles Darth Vader's iconic mask from "Star Wars."

If you look closely, imaginative minds might see Darth Vader's mask etched into this massive redwood tree discovered on a new trail at Redwood National Park in Northern California. May the Force be with you.

"When you look at the tree from a certain angle, it looks just like Darth Vader. It's a very big, dark redwood, too, so that adds to the visual. We think the tree is likely a survivor of fires and lightning strikes, which would explain its scars and dark appearance," Stenger said.

Stenger said the Darth Vader Tree, as it's being called, can be found roughly halfway through the three-mile Berry Glen Trail -- not too long a trek for die-hard "Star Wars" fans.

However, since the path hasn't been open for long, not many people know about the tree yet.

"Maybe by next year, we'll have 'Star Wars' fans lining up to take pictures with it," Stenger said with delight. "If George Lucas wants to take a look at it, I'm sure our park rangers would be more than happy to take him to it."

Though the Darth Vader Tree is certainly the latest lord of the redwoods, Stenger assured there are plenty of other odd and strange trees worth checking out in Northern California redwood country.

Stenger said that if you head 30 minutes south of Eureka to Humboldt Redwoods State Park, you'll come across a bizarre breed of trees known as albino redwoods, or "forest ghosts."

Albino redwoods, which lack typical green pigmentation in their needles, are very rare around the world. Humboldt Redwoods State Park in California boasts at least six of these glistening white trees.


Like albino animals, these trees lack pigmentation, so their needles are snowy white instead of green. Stenger said albino redwoods grow in the deepest, darkest parts of the redwood forest, so they really stand out among the rest.

"They sort of glisten like a white Christmas tree. There are only 50 or so of these in existence, and at least six of them can be found at Humboldt Redwoods State Park," he said.

Stenger said Humboldt County is also home to the world's tallest trees, including a reclusive redwood known as Hyperion, which towers high above at 379 feet tall.

"It's six stories taller than the Statue of Liberty and is the world's tallest living tree. It's at an undisclosed, remote location that's hard to get to, but that keeps the tree protected," Stenger said.

There's also the 365-foot Tall Tree within Redwood National Park, which Stenger said used to be the world's tallest tree before Hyperion came along.

He guessed that Tall Tree is about 900 years old, completely normal in redwood years.

"It's not uncommon for redwoods to be 900 to 1,500 years old. In some cases, they even surpass 2,000 years. Redwoods are super trees. They can withstand almost any element."

While the Darth Vader Tree may be the coolest conifer you've seen today, the "Star Wars" redwood isn't the only wacky plant to make headlines this year.

Back in August, a 100-year-old tamarind tree in Thailand became an instant Internet sensation. It supposedly boasted branches that looked like the open legs of a naked woman.

But after some serious sniffing around by locals, the sexually suggestive tree turned out to be nothing but a big, fat viral hoax.

Well, at least the Darth Vader Tree is the real deal.

And if you just can't see it, try harder. As Darth Vader himself would say, "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

Newly Discovered Tree Looks Like Darth Vader

Monica Garske

Dec. 17) -- "Star Wars" conventions are usually held in major cities, but from now on, devoted fans may want to gather smack dab in the middle of a forest -- at Redwood National Park, to be precise.


Several weeks ago, the national park, located just north of Eureka, Calif., opened its first new hiking trail in 10 years, and it appears the Force is strong with the brand-new path.

Redwood enthusiast Richard Stenger, of the Humboldt County Convention and Visitors Bureau, told AOL News that a major surprise awaits imaginative visitors on the trail: a giant redwood tree that resembles Darth Vader's iconic mask from "Star Wars."

If you look closely, imaginative minds might see Darth Vader's mask etched into this massive redwood tree discovered on a new trail at Redwood National Park in Northern California. May the Force be with you.

"When you look at the tree from a certain angle, it looks just like Darth Vader. It's a very big, dark redwood, too, so that adds to the visual. We think the tree is likely a survivor of fires and lightning strikes, which would explain its scars and dark appearance," Stenger said.

Stenger said the Darth Vader Tree, as it's being called, can be found roughly halfway through the three-mile Berry Glen Trail -- not too long a trek for die-hard "Star Wars" fans.

However, since the path hasn't been open for long, not many people know about the tree yet.

"Maybe by next year, we'll have 'Star Wars' fans lining up to take pictures with it," Stenger said with delight. "If George Lucas wants to take a look at it, I'm sure our park rangers would be more than happy to take him to it."

Though the Darth Vader Tree is certainly the latest lord of the redwoods, Stenger assured there are plenty of other odd and strange trees worth checking out in Northern California redwood country.

Stenger said that if you head 30 minutes south of Eureka to Humboldt Redwoods State Park, you'll come across a bizarre breed of trees known as albino redwoods, or "forest ghosts."

Albino redwoods, which lack typical green pigmentation in their needles, are very rare around the world. Humboldt Redwoods State Park in California boasts at least six of these glistening white trees.


Like albino animals, these trees lack pigmentation, so their needles are snowy white instead of green. Stenger said albino redwoods grow in the deepest, darkest parts of the redwood forest, so they really stand out among the rest.

"They sort of glisten like a white Christmas tree. There are only 50 or so of these in existence, and at least six of them can be found at Humboldt Redwoods State Park," he said.

Stenger said Humboldt County is also home to the world's tallest trees, including a reclusive redwood known as Hyperion, which towers high above at 379 feet tall.

"It's six stories taller than the Statue of Liberty and is the world's tallest living tree. It's at an undisclosed, remote location that's hard to get to, but that keeps the tree protected," Stenger said.

There's also the 365-foot Tall Tree within Redwood National Park, which Stenger said used to be the world's tallest tree before Hyperion came along.

He guessed that Tall Tree is about 900 years old, completely normal in redwood years.

"It's not uncommon for redwoods to be 900 to 1,500 years old. In some cases, they even surpass 2,000 years. Redwoods are super trees. They can withstand almost any element."

While the Darth Vader Tree may be the coolest conifer you've seen today, the "Star Wars" redwood isn't the only wacky plant to make headlines this year.

Back in August, a 100-year-old tamarind tree in Thailand became an instant Internet sensation. It supposedly boasted branches that looked like the open legs of a naked woman.

But after some serious sniffing around by locals, the sexually suggestive tree turned out to be nothing but a big, fat viral hoax.

Well, at least the Darth Vader Tree is the real deal.

And if you just can't see it, try harder. As Darth Vader himself would say, "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

Albino redwoods hold scientific mystery (via Chad Arment)

Lisa M. Krieger


FELTON -- Strong, tall and older than America, coast redwoods are the royalty of Henry Cowell State Park.

But down on the dark forest floor are a few pale and fragile offspring: albino saplings, which seasonally appear and disappear like specters, leaving only mystery.

Rare genetic mutants, these ill-fated "ghosts of the forest" are spurring scientific study at Stanford University and UC Santa Cruz.

Gloved researchers cut little samples of tissue, pack them in ice and drive them back to labs. At Stanford, they seek to decode the genome. At UC Santa Cruz, they are studying the trees' structure and function, hoping to learn how so helpless a tree survives.

"It is a great puzzle," said Ghia Euskirchen, director of the DNA Sequencing Program at Stanford University School of Medicine.

They are the only white evergreens in the world; about 60 of these ethereal trees have been reported. Seven are known to exist at Cowell Park, eight near Aptos, two in Big Sur State Park and six at Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Small and reclusive, they are hard to spot.

Their existence has been rumored since the 1890s, when a San Francisco Call newspaper reporter described "everwhites" in a wagonload of Christmas trees delivered to city streets from the rural Sonoma County town of Cazadero. In the early 1900s, pioneering plant physiologist George James Peirce of Stanford peered at one through a microscope. Big Sur poet Robinson Jeffers described one in a letter to a friend.

But they're poorly understood, and their locations are a fiercely guarded secret, except for a lone specimen on a Cowell Park trail and another near the pay booth at Big Sur's Fernwood Campground.

"There are so few of them," said Cowell docent Dave Kuty. "It is a population that we could destroy, if they are plucked every year. Then we'll never understand them."

Albinism is common in animals, especially rats and rabbits. But it's very unusual in plants, because nothing is as central to a plant's existence as being green. That's because the plant pigment called chlorophyll is vital for photosynthesis, which allows plants to obtain energy from light. Without it, the trees have no way to manufacture the food needed for growth.

There are other oddities. Their needles feel like wax. The wood isn't strong and lacks critical chemicals. Their internal vessels are narrow. And their growth rings are very close together, suggesting slow growth.

So they can't live independently -- and forever remain sprouted on a parental trunk.

When times get tough, the parent tree withdraws all support and the seedlings perish, turning brown.

In times of abundant rain, they sprout again, flourishing.

"They come and go, like ghosts," said Kuty. "They starve to death and shrink back. Then they reappear."

Such delicacy would seem to hold little value for a species of such hardy old souls. Nearby siblings, on the same trunk, are bright green, vigorous and resilient.

"What the heck is going on?" asked Cabrillo College historian Sandy Lydon, co-author of the book "Coastal Redwoods," who saw his first white redwood as a youngster while fishing in Pescadero's Butano Creek -- and has been enraptured ever since.

"Almost everything that a redwood tree does is survival response. The way they race for the sun. The way they regenerate. The way they respond if hit by lightning," he said. "Now here is something that has not a damn thing to do with any of that.

"I'm hoping that science can give us a clue."

At Stanford, a team is on a hunt for the genetic change, or mutation, that renders trees so weak and white -- as well as any other differences that create species variation.

Understanding the genetics of the coast redwood is a daunting task. Genetically, the tree is what's called a hexaploid. That means that each of its cells contains six sets of chromosomes, for 66 chromosomes total. In contrast, humans are merely diploid, with 23 chromosomes. Such abundance is very unusual -- and could suggest more opportunities for mutations.

"It is much more complicated than humans," holding much more genetic information, said Stanford's Euskirchen, who plans to study the molecular blueprint of both normal and albino redwoods, then compare their results.

UC Santa Cruz scientist Jarmila Pittermann, in contrast, is studying the tree's physiology. In normal plants, leaf pores open and close in a delicate dance, to lose water and absorb carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. She wonders: When there's no need for carbon dioxide, what do the white trees do to regulate water transport?

"It gets even weirder," she added. "These albinos don't do anything -- they're like parasites. How do they take up nutrients that they can't make for themselves?"

Scientists agree that the mutation suggests something that is critical to evolutionary success: diversity. The greater the diversity, the better a species can take on the challenges of life, particularly in tough places.

Along the way, perhaps other mysteries will be solved, such as: Why are some trees resistant to pathogens? Why do others build strong buttresses under each branch? How can they tower so tall? And what has given redwoods the ability to endure so many centuries of fires, wind and storms?

"They are so inspirational, so much a part of who we are and what we value," said Lydon. "The more we know, the better."

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_16730597?nclick_check=1

Albino redwoods hold scientific mystery (via Chad Arment)

Lisa M. Krieger


FELTON -- Strong, tall and older than America, coast redwoods are the royalty of Henry Cowell State Park.

But down on the dark forest floor are a few pale and fragile offspring: albino saplings, which seasonally appear and disappear like specters, leaving only mystery.

Rare genetic mutants, these ill-fated "ghosts of the forest" are spurring scientific study at Stanford University and UC Santa Cruz.

Gloved researchers cut little samples of tissue, pack them in ice and drive them back to labs. At Stanford, they seek to decode the genome. At UC Santa Cruz, they are studying the trees' structure and function, hoping to learn how so helpless a tree survives.

"It is a great puzzle," said Ghia Euskirchen, director of the DNA Sequencing Program at Stanford University School of Medicine.

They are the only white evergreens in the world; about 60 of these ethereal trees have been reported. Seven are known to exist at Cowell Park, eight near Aptos, two in Big Sur State Park and six at Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Small and reclusive, they are hard to spot.

Their existence has been rumored since the 1890s, when a San Francisco Call newspaper reporter described "everwhites" in a wagonload of Christmas trees delivered to city streets from the rural Sonoma County town of Cazadero. In the early 1900s, pioneering plant physiologist George James Peirce of Stanford peered at one through a microscope. Big Sur poet Robinson Jeffers described one in a letter to a friend.

But they're poorly understood, and their locations are a fiercely guarded secret, except for a lone specimen on a Cowell Park trail and another near the pay booth at Big Sur's Fernwood Campground.

"There are so few of them," said Cowell docent Dave Kuty. "It is a population that we could destroy, if they are plucked every year. Then we'll never understand them."

Albinism is common in animals, especially rats and rabbits. But it's very unusual in plants, because nothing is as central to a plant's existence as being green. That's because the plant pigment called chlorophyll is vital for photosynthesis, which allows plants to obtain energy from light. Without it, the trees have no way to manufacture the food needed for growth.

There are other oddities. Their needles feel like wax. The wood isn't strong and lacks critical chemicals. Their internal vessels are narrow. And their growth rings are very close together, suggesting slow growth.

So they can't live independently -- and forever remain sprouted on a parental trunk.

When times get tough, the parent tree withdraws all support and the seedlings perish, turning brown.

In times of abundant rain, they sprout again, flourishing.

"They come and go, like ghosts," said Kuty. "They starve to death and shrink back. Then they reappear."

Such delicacy would seem to hold little value for a species of such hardy old souls. Nearby siblings, on the same trunk, are bright green, vigorous and resilient.

"What the heck is going on?" asked Cabrillo College historian Sandy Lydon, co-author of the book "Coastal Redwoods," who saw his first white redwood as a youngster while fishing in Pescadero's Butano Creek -- and has been enraptured ever since.

"Almost everything that a redwood tree does is survival response. The way they race for the sun. The way they regenerate. The way they respond if hit by lightning," he said. "Now here is something that has not a damn thing to do with any of that.

"I'm hoping that science can give us a clue."

At Stanford, a team is on a hunt for the genetic change, or mutation, that renders trees so weak and white -- as well as any other differences that create species variation.

Understanding the genetics of the coast redwood is a daunting task. Genetically, the tree is what's called a hexaploid. That means that each of its cells contains six sets of chromosomes, for 66 chromosomes total. In contrast, humans are merely diploid, with 23 chromosomes. Such abundance is very unusual -- and could suggest more opportunities for mutations.

"It is much more complicated than humans," holding much more genetic information, said Stanford's Euskirchen, who plans to study the molecular blueprint of both normal and albino redwoods, then compare their results.

UC Santa Cruz scientist Jarmila Pittermann, in contrast, is studying the tree's physiology. In normal plants, leaf pores open and close in a delicate dance, to lose water and absorb carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. She wonders: When there's no need for carbon dioxide, what do the white trees do to regulate water transport?

"It gets even weirder," she added. "These albinos don't do anything -- they're like parasites. How do they take up nutrients that they can't make for themselves?"

Scientists agree that the mutation suggests something that is critical to evolutionary success: diversity. The greater the diversity, the better a species can take on the challenges of life, particularly in tough places.

Along the way, perhaps other mysteries will be solved, such as: Why are some trees resistant to pathogens? Why do others build strong buttresses under each branch? How can they tower so tall? And what has given redwoods the ability to endure so many centuries of fires, wind and storms?

"They are so inspirational, so much a part of who we are and what we value," said Lydon. "The more we know, the better."

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_16730597?nclick_check=1