The Life Cycle of Redwood Trees

Flowers

• Redwood trees bloom during late fall and early winter and produce separate male and female flowers on the same tree. The male flowers contain the pollen and appear as small, yellow tufts on the ends of all the leaves. The female flowers, that eventually turn into cones, are green in color and only appear on the ends of upper tree branches. The wind carries the pollen up to fertilize the female flowers.

Seeds

• As the female flowers are pollinated, mature trees produce nearly 100,000, ¾- to 1-inch long cones per year. Each cone contains about 100 seeds. However not all seeds are fertile and not all fertile cones are able to produce healthy seedlings. The cones dry in low humidity weather and release their seeds. The seed dispersal is more rapid during rains. Redwood trees start to bear seeds when they are between 5 to 15 years old.

Seedlings

• The released seeds are ripe and ready to germinate as they fall to the ground. Germination starts in warm and moist soil. Of all the released seeds, fewer than 5 percent germinate and even less grow into healthy seedling. Young seedlings frequently fail to survive due to drought, fungal infections and other causes. Redwood seedlings achieve up to a foot of height per year under optimal conditions. The trees have a fast growth rate after the age of 10 years.

Adult Tree

• Adult redwood tree has a mature height of over 300 feet with trunk diameter of 20 or more feet. The tree is long lived with many that are 2,000 years old. The straight trunks are buttressed at the base. The slightly drooping tree branches do not start to grow till after a third of the trunk. The foliage is both scale like and also linear. Redwood trees have the ability to sprout new trees from their roots and also from the cut stumps.