The Redwood Trio Reconstructed

The fossilized redwood trio located in the stump shelter.

NPS Staff

Florissant's Fossil Redwoods (Sequoia affinis)

Sequoia (redwood) is the fossil genus easiest for park visitors to see at Florissant because of the large petrified stumps. The fossils are most closely related to the modern Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and more distantly related to the Sierra Redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum). During the Eocene, Sequoia was widespread around the Northern Hemisphere before it became restricted to its modern relict distribution along the coast of California and Oregon today.

This reconstruction shows Florissant’s famous Redwood Trio, which is a single tree with three interconnected trunks that originated from sprouting around the base.

 

Theoretical sequence of growth from broken stump to three full-grown redwood clones, concluding with the fossilized trio as it is today.

Reconstruction GIF: NPS/SIP/Mariah Slovacek; Photograph: NPS Staff

Growing Clones

This artist reconstruction shows the possible growth of the fossilized redwood trio. Stumps of damaged or fallen redwood trees sprout new growth from basal shoots around the still-living roots of the tree. These clones are genetically identical to the original tree, and the new trunks grow into mature trees.

 

A composite reconstruction of the two kinds of cones of the redwood (Sequoia affinis) including a mature female seed cone and numerous male pollen cones. (Female Cone: FLFO 35, Foliage and Pollen Cones: FLFO 81)

NPS/SIP/Mariah Slovacek

Cones and Foliage

The fossils of Sequoia at Florissant include wood (petrified stumps), foliage, seed cones, pollen cones, and pollen. The preserved fossils of these various organs allow us to reconstruct what these tall Sequoia trees looked like. Compared to the modern Coast Redwood, the fossil cones were smaller, and the leaves were thinner and often pressed more closely along the branch.

 

Artist reconstruction of the petrified redwood trio located under the stump shelter. The insets show what the foliage might have looked like based on shale fossil impressions of redwood needles and cones.

NPS/SIP/Mariah Slovacek

 

Foliage to Fossil

Left image
Redwood foliage fossil, FLFO 3661.
Credit: NPS Staff

Right image
Artist reconstruction of redwood foliage, FLF 3661.
Credit: NPS/SIP/Mariah Slovacek

Florissant's fossils are often incredibly detailed, preserving even the smallest of features such as the "hairs" on an insects legs and tiny veins in a leaf! Because of this, even individual fossils can be reconstructed. Slide between a real fossil and an artistic reconstruction of it and watch how the needles turn from living green to fossilized carbon and back!

 

Fossilized pollen that corresponds to foliage and cones found at the monument. Diameter is 24μ.

Photograph: Hugh Wingate; Provided Courtesy of Doug Nichols

Fossilized Redwood Pollen

The distinctive pollen of Sequoia developed in the male pollen cones and dispersed in the wind, some of it landing in the lake.The shale can be dissolved in various acids in the lab to remove the rock sediment, leaving the resistant pollen behind. This pollen-rich residue can be mounted on a microscope slide to identify the different kinds of plants, including Sequoia.