Albinism is rare in humans and animals, and it is rarer still in plants, where it manifests as the complete lack of chlorophyll. Because this green pigment is vital to the manufacture of food and thus the survival of plants, an albino plant typically die as seedlings.There is an exception, however... several albino redwoods in California that have managed to survive till adulthood by latching on to the parent redwood and leaching off nutrients from the host tree...New research have suggested that the albino redwood also helps the healthy redwood trees to survive by filtering out toxins from the soil. Albinos have defective stomata that causes them to lose more water through transpiration, forcing them to compensate by taking up more water through their roots. As a result they accumulate more metals in their bodies than normal trees do... The research led by Zane Moore, a doctoral student at the University of California Davis, found high levels of toxic heavy metals, including nickel, copper and cadmium. These heavy metals were at least twice as high in the albino redwoods compared to healthy redwood trees...It is believed that there are about 400 albino redwoods across California’s wilderness. Their locations are not advertised in order to prevent people from seeking them out and collecting souvenirs that would be harmful for the plant.
More information and several cool photos at Amusing Planet.
I would think the heavier metal load would be a hazard for woodworkers unwittingly using that tree.
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My wife and I recently visited redwood forests in the Santa Cruz Mountains area (Big Basin and Henry Cowell State Parks). I did not notice any albino redwoods, but then I was not looking for any either as I was unaware of them. My wife took a couple of hundred pictures, no exaggeration. I will have to peruse them more closely to see if any of these albino redwoods appear. Chances are there were some in those parks. Big Basin is the oldest state park in California (1902). The trees are amazing. As with the Grand Canyon, pictures do not prepare you for the actual thing.
ReplyDeleteSpent a lot of time in those parks, near where I grew up. I don't remember ever seeing an albino redwood. Here's what I'll guess I did see more than once: what looked like a sickly sucker coming off a large redwood. Hence, dismissed. I wonder how big these get. I'm gonna guess not very big, but I'd see such a thing with new eyes.
Delete"latching on to the parent redwood and leaching off nutrients from the host tree..." is a very negative way to describe a mother tree nurturing her offspring. Trees form networks of cooperation, even between different species. Often also in relationship with cooperation with mycelium. Darwin would be pleased.
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