Blue trail through Western America
This walk takes us across the evergreen wonderland of the American Far West. We descend slowly, from north to south, along the Pacific Coast of the United States, from Alaska, through British Columbia, Washington and Oregon all the way to California, then turn north again along the Rocky Mountains. The forests of the American Far West consist mainly of coniferous species that soar above the surrounding vegetation the closer we get to the coastal areas. These are real rainforests. In addition to various types of spruce, pine and silver fir, typical species such as Douglas fir, hemlock and Western red cedar dominate here.
Both the Giant sequoia and the California redwood vie for the honor of being California’s most famous tree. The Coast redwood is the world-record holder with the tallest known tree in the world, a colossus that measures more than 115 meters. The Giant sequoia from the Sierra Nevada, for its part, happens to be the most voluminous tree in the world, with a behemoth trunk that can grow as thick as 10 meters. There is, by the way, a striking group of trees near these California giants: The spine-clad Araucarias or so-called Monkey Puzzle trees. They are endemic to the Andes mountains of central Chile, and thus they are an exception in this part of the arboretum because they do not naturally occur in North America.
The tree species of the Rocky Mountains are very similar to those found on the Pacific Coast Mountains, but a few differences in shape and color may be noted: As regards the Lodgepole pine found in the Rocky Mountains, for instance, we can observe broader and twisted needle-like leaves, whereas the Sierra Lodgepole Pine grows needle-like leaves that are shorter and more rigid. Blue Douglas fir and Colorado fir predominate in the Rocky Mountains, whereas Douglas fir and Giant silver fir are more at home in the Coast Mountains.