A Unique Tree
Some of you may know the “Little snowflake”, an albino western Iwoland Gorilla. He was somewhat of a celebrity at the Barcelona Zoo, where he lived in captivity from 1966 until his death in 2003.
Well, everyone knows why “little snowflake” was so special, he was the only white (albino) gorilla in the world. But what most people don’t know is that he was cremated and planted using a Bios Urn®. When Bios Urn® was just an unknown project, the authorities of the Barcelona zoo decided to contact us to see if we could create an early prototype of the urn and use it to plant a ‘Calodendrum Capense’, a South African tree that can grow to be 20 meters high. They thought it could be a great symbol to memorialize the existence of a unique animal, so they planted little snowflake on a parcel of land in Barcelona’s zoo.
We don´t usually share this story to promote Bios Urn® because the characteristic that made him different was what condemned him to live in captivity; he was white. He was used as an attraction to promote a human designed space, the zoo. If you follow us you already know we have certain concerns about some human designed spaces.
But the point of this post is not to talk about Gorillas. Like most of our posts, we want to talk about trees and stories related with life. And today we have a great one, the albino redwood. Only about 60 trees are known to exist, but yes they are real!
Only 60 are recorded to exist in the world
Unlike other species, Redwoods are the only conifers that can graft their roots, so ‘albino’ redwoods can survive and become sizable trees by joining its roots with the roots of a normal redwood. They can be found in both Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and Humboldt Redwoods State Park but their exact locations are not publicized to protect these rare trees.
The existence of these 60 white-needle-redwoods proves how complex and delicate life is. A tree that can’t produce chlorophyll but feeds obtaining nutrients from the root system of a parent tree. This fact also reveals how unique and marvelous small things are.
Photo by Cole Shatto A branch from an ‘albino’ Sequoia sempervirens exhibiting lack of chlorophyll.
We hope no one never digs up one of these trees to put it in a botanical garden or somewhere far from the wild environment where they belong.
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Thank you.
Hey are we able to have this albino redwood seed in the urn we get?
Hi Valerie, no albino seeds are not available for purchase 🙂
Truly fascinating. I never knew. Thank you for sharing this wonderful story. I wished we could take a picture. And I sure hope they are guarded. once this gets more popular those nuts will be trying to dig one up or slicing at it. Please do keep them protected.
Thank you so much for sharing. Truly amazed,
Are we able to get regular Redwood Seeds?
Hello Gwendolyn,
We do not offer redwood seeds at the moment, however you can acquire them from nurseries or online stores. If you need a reference for a good seed company please let us know!
Amazing. Mother Nature has hidden jewels everywhere. May I have a reference for good deed company? Thank you.
Hello Rebecca, absolutely she does! Where are you located?
Oops! Deed should be seed!
Twenty years ago I found a website that gave me a “close” description and location. Close was an absolute lue but my sweetheart and I persevered and after sloughing through the brush for what seemed like miles and hours we crossed a little stream and there it was. Still makes me smile, still love the pictures we took on that little safari. Oh, I married the girl and we will always treasure our experience. Yes, I know “exactly” where to find both trees but I ain’t telling no one.
WOW! What a remarkable story and experience… how lucky you were to have seen them!
I found a small one of these in my woods near my house in Niles, Michigan. Should I contact wildlife services?
We think it could be a good thing! They will be able to advise further.
I spotted a white albino tree at Huddart Park in Woodside, California this week. The park range said it is very rare and that they don’t usually live very long. So excited to have seen such a rare occurrence.
Wow how lucky! Thank you for taking the time to share 🙂