Redwood Fog Forest

Redwood Fog Forest is an original illustration set in Northern California Coast, USA. It lies in mid-latitudes, where the climate is warm-summer mediterranean.

Immense straight reddish trunks rise past the top of the frame. A dense carpet of sword ferns covers the ground at their bases, and one fallen mossy log crosses the frame. Cool fog fills the spaces between the trunks and no direct sun reaches the floor.

Why do the tallest redwoods grow in a fog belt, not the wettest place?

These trees take much of their water from fog rather than rain — moisture condenses on the high foliage and drips down, which is why the tallest stands sit inside a summer fog belt rather than in the wettest place. Bark thick enough to resist fire, and no branches for the first fifty metres, are both age. The fern floor is what grows in permanent shade.

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