Many of the exotics you see in the forest today were planted around the mid 19th century; I think it was all the rage in posh circles. The most famous, and the most visited is Rhinefield's Ornamental Drive of redwoods and firs, which was created for the nearby manor house in 1859. The Coast Douglas Fir is a favourite exotic seen about. All over the forest there are Coast Douglas Firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii) dotted around, most will have been planted about 150 years or so ago, so still have a good 400 left to grow, and they're already very tall, projecting well above the surrounding deciduous canopy. Towards their tops their trunks are covered in numerous small straight branches, which remind me of 'Kerplunk'. They look like they'd made it easy to climb, though I don't think those branches are that sturdy, and how you'd scale the meters of near bare trunk to get up to them to start with, is uncertain.
No comments:
Post a Comment