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NEThis fallen Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) gives us a really interesting look at the vascular tissue of these incredible trees!
The cambium, or vascular tissue of a tree is created by two different types of tissue - the Phloem, which transports sugars down from the leaves as they photosynthesize, and the Xylem, which transports water to the leaves so that they can photosynthesize.
The outermost layer of a tree, the bark, is created by old layers of the Phloem that push outwards as they age and fall out of use. The innermost layer of a tree, the heartwood, is created by old layers of Xylem as they age and fall out of use. The active layers of Xylem, just under the park, are known as the sapwood.
Members of the Cupressaceae family like this Redwood are notorious for having high levels of volatile oils in both their bark and heartwood, which keeps insects, bacteria and fungi from breaking them down and causing rot that could lead to their demise, yet active sapwood tends to be lacking in those oils, leaving them open to colonization by decomposers.
I’ve looked it up, and pretty sure those are a type of Sulphur Cap fungi working on that sapwood to begin that long decomposition process that these trees will all inevitably go through. Pretty neat!
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