You may find this helpful:
"Redwood cones release tiny brown seeds when mature. (They're so small
that it takes about 125,000 to make a pound!) A single tree may
produce six million seeds in a year. Of these seeds, only 15-20
percent germinate and grow into seedlings. Redwoods are also capable
of sprouting from the roots of parent trees, from dormant buds in the
burls at the base of a tree, or from fallen trees. As well, if a tree
is cut or burned, a family circle of trees ("fairy ring") may sprout
up from the stump. These sprouts, because of already established root
systems, grow more vigorously than seedlings and so are the more
common form of reproduction. In fact, successive generations of
sprouts are really 'clone trees'. Thus the genetic information of an
individual redwood may be thousands of years old, dating back to the
first parent."
http://www.sempervirens.org/sequoiasemp.htm |
