Is it really a floating tree? Take a look at this unusual growth in California park
A hiker in Northern California stumbled onto something straight out of a fairy tale in Redwoods National and State Parks: A floating tree.
Linden Lentz shared a photo of the whimsical discovery March 20 on Facebook, showing the tree — roots and all — hovering over the trail.
Closer inspection reveals the tree is being held aloft by three sturdy roots, each one growing horizontally into the side of a nearby slope. The parks are about 330 miles northwest of Sacramento.
Lentz called the phenomenon “an Octopus tree” and said it stood about 10 feet overhead as he and his wife, Mary, hiked The Berry Glen Trail on March 16.
“I think the typical reaction (people have) is one of confusion in seeing roots of a tree suspended in the air instead of buried in the ground,” he told McClatchy News.
“As to how long it has been this way, it is hard to say. It would depend on how long the tree, which is probably a western hemlock, has been growing. I would say it has been growing for less a century.”
His photo — which includes his wife on the trail — has received more than 1,500 reactions, comments and shares since being posted — including some people who say the tree is doomed because “gravity always wins.” Others have focused on looking for a sensible explanation, some of which are extremely complicated.
“I don’t even understand how that would happen,” Ellie Jacques-Capon posted on Facebook.
“It looks like the tree on the left fell over — these redwoods have long lateral roots, close to the surface — (and) several of these roots with soil attached tipped over the trail (or the trail was built under it). And a tree started in the clump of dirt on the roots!” Steve Laymon wrote.
“When a tree has decided to settle down there is nothing stopping it,” Bernard Baud wrote.
Lentz says there’s actually a simple explanation: A large redwood tree fell over the trail, and another tree spouted from the debris that piled atop the fallen tree.
“As it grew, it put out roots along the downed tree trunk to the embankment on the other side in search of a better source of water and nutrients. Over decades, the redwood underneath has decomposed and the end has fallen away, leaving the roots of the new tree suspended in the air,” he said.
“Octopus trees are fairly common in the redwood forest. They are most often seen growing atop the stumps of cut or downed redwoods.”
The Berry Glen Trail is just over 7 miles long and runs “mostly through a remnant strip of old-growth redwood forest,” according to Redwoodhikes.com. The parks cover a combined 133,000 acres, the National Park Service says.
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 11:06 AM with the headline "Is it really a floating tree? Take a look at this unusual growth in California park."