January:
Warren from Marin County shared this beautiful draping albino chimera with Chimera Redwoods. Tom met up with him and was pleasantly surprised to see a large branch exhibiting an eight-foot section of mutated foliage. The branch growing from a normal green redwood creates a beautiful mosaic pattern of green and yellow. According to Warren, this aerial chimera is about ten years old and appears to be getting larger. Thanks again Warren for sharing this super find!
January:
Wendy from the East Bay reported this cellular green albino redwood growing elusively in the Oakland Hills. We had reports of this albino redwood back in 2013 and explored the area with no luck. Thanks to Wendy and her dog Annie, we were able to track down this beautiful find. Appearing quite photogenic, this cellular green albino redwood appears to be growing independently from other nearby redwoods. Under the surface, this albino redwood is connected to the root system of the green redwood behind it.
August:
Located deep within the forests of Mendocino County, Howard shares with us this white albino redwood known by early homesteaders since the 1930s. Passed on by word of mouth by just a few people over the years, this tree is making its first public debut. The tree stands around 12 feet tall & has accumulated layers of duff from years of redwood needle replacement. As the fragile albino foliage dies, other new sprouts take their place. Over time albinos like this become beautiful hedges. Thanks to Saundra at Joe's R/K & Grill for putting us in touch with Howard.
August:
Lead Wildlife Biologist Shad & his botanist coworker Haley shared with us four beautiful white albino redwoods near Anderson Valley in Mendocino County. The tallest stands in at just under 30 feet. Known since the 1950s, these trees have been carefully protected by Mendocino Redwood Company who’s managing the surrounding forest. Thanks to their good stewardship, these albino redwoods should continue to live on for many more years to come.
October:
Pete from Sacramento County (not pictured) shares with us the third mottled albino redwood known in existence. The tree is approximately 15 years old and was obtained at the California State Fair. For unknown reasons the tree mysteriously started producing variegated foliage at a young age. Pete hopes to train his tree into a full-size redwood that one day may rival the super chimeras found within this website. Best to luck Pete and thanks for sharing this truly one-of-a-kind redwood!
December:
Originally discovered around dusk by a gentleman named Will, this little sprig of a tree appeared to glow at twilight in the darkness of the forest. Lucky for Will, the timing of the light can be everything when looking for albino redwoods. At times too much light and dark contrast can camouflage these trees into the background of obscurity. Sometimes the perfect moment arrives when the lighting is just right to reveal these trees as was in Will’s case. Even the best researchers have walked by albino redwoods hiding in the shadows just a few feet away. Thankfully, Will led us to the tree in the light of the day.
The small white albino redwood Will found is hidden on the banks of a creek in western Marin County. It’s growing between two larger green redwoods and appears only to be a few years old.