El Palo Alto is a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) tree located in El Palo Alto Park on the banks of San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto, California, United States. El Palo Alto means the tall stick in Spanish.
El Palo Alto is currently 110 feet (33.5 meters) in height (compared to 134.6 feet or 41 meters in 1951), 90 inches (2.3 meters) in diameter, and has a crown spread of 40 feet (12 meters). In 1955, an increment boring of the tree rings was taken and the tree's age was accurately determined to be 1,015 years, and in 2004 was 1,064 years old. El Palo Alto originally had twin trunks, but an 1886 flood and windstorm in the San Francisquito arroyo downed one of the two trunks.
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History
The tree is California Historical Landmark No. 2 (number 1 is the custom house in Monterey). It is recognized by the National Arborist Association and International Society of Arboriculture for its historical significance as "a campsite for the Portola Expedition Party of 1769"; being frequented by the Costanoan/Ohlone Indians; and for its use as a sighting tree by surveyors plotting out El Camino Real. The tree is depicted on the city of Palo Alto's official seal and on the seal of Stanford University. It is presumably the origin of the city's name.[1]
A plaque at the base of the tree bears the following inscription:
- Under this giant redwood, the Palo Alto, November 6–11, 1769, camped Portola and his band on the expedition that discovered San Francisco Bay, this was the assembling point for their reconnoitering parties. Here in 1774 Padre Palou erected a cross to mark the site of a proposed mission (which later was built at Santa Clara). The celebrated Pedro Font topographical map of 1776 contained the drawing of the original double trunked tree making the Palo Alto the first official living California landmark.
Health of the Tree and Conservation
In 1776, the tree was measured at 135.7-feet with a circumference of 15.1-feet. In 1814, measurement found a height of 162.2 feet. However, from 1865-1955, the tree's health was in decline exhibiting sparse branching and foliage. In 1926, fearing loss of the tree, a bronze plaque commemorating the tree was set in a granite boulder by the local Native Sons of the Golden West. In 1951 its height was 134.6 feet, in 1977 its height was reduced to 126 feet to remove the dead top, and again in 1999 where it still stands at nearly 110 feet in height. Causes of the tree's decline have been attributed to coal-burning train soot and lowering of the water table by nearby orchard wells, including the 1912 Tower Well only two blocks away. By the 1960s, the water table was so low that salt water was intruding into nearby wells and Peninsula cities like Palo Alto switched to getting their water from the Hetch Hetchy system. El Palo Alto was unable access the lowered groundwater as redwoods are typically shallow rooted.[2] By the mid-1960s the tree was in severe decline, leading to successive dying off of the treetop until the water table began to recover in the late 1990's. Efforts to restore the tree's health by the Southern Pacific Railroad, the City of Palo Alto and local citizens included progressive pruning off of the dying treetop, addition of soil and mulch at the tree’s base, removal of dead limbs, pesticide spraying and installation of a pipe up its trunk to bring water to the top of the tree.[3] Although the tree stands today at only 68% of its former stature, it enjoys greater health than nearly a century ago.[4]
A 1999 horticultural appraisal of El Palo Alto, conducted in accordance with the Guide for Plant Appraisal authored by the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers and published by the International Society of Arboriculture, valued the tree at $55,600.00.[5]
In 2004, seedlings from El Palo Alto were planted in the American Forests Historic Tree Nursery in Jacksonville, Florida.[6]
Because of its secluded location, El Palo Alto has become a popular sleeping spot for transients and an equally popular drinking spot for juveniles.
Notes
- ^ City of Palo Alto. El Palo Alto Historic Report
- ^ Cindy Spring (Jul-Sep 2004). "Saving El Palo Alto: Interview with Jim Johnson". Bay Nature. http://baynature.org/articles/jul-sep-2004/saving-el-palo-alto.
- ^ Matt Bowling. "El Palo Alto: An Iconic Past - The Palo Alto History Project". http://www.paloaltohistory.com/elpaloaltotree.html. Retrieved Nov. 13, 2009.
- ^ "El Palo Alto As It Stands Today". City of Palo Alto. http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=9610. Retrieved Nov. 13, 2009.
- ^ Dave Dockter, Planning Division Arborist (Oct. 25, 1999). "The El Palo Alto Redwood Tree - Arborist Report and Appraisal". http://trees.stanford.edu/PDF/elpaloalto.pdf. Retrieved Nov. 14, 2009.
- ^ Karl Kaller, Kellie Schmitt (Oct. 14, 2004). "Palo Alto's Namesake Honored". San Jose Mercury News.
See also
External links
- Palo Alto Wiki entry
- City of Palo Alto's Heritage Trees
- Stanford University History: Prologue
- Historical photographs of San Francisquito Creek, including El Palo Alto
- City Arborist Report, 1999
- American Forests Historic Tree Nursery
Coordinates: 37°26′50″N 122°10′13″W / 37.44727°N 122.17014°W
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