The Unlikely Survival of the 1,081 Year-Old Redwood El Palo Alto (opens in new tab)

(nytimes.com)

141 pointsigonvalue4y ago26 comments

26 comments

I used to live in a condo building directly across the street from El Palo Alto. Walked by it every morning. Like the article says, it's in a small park right next to the Caltrain tracks, and you probably wouldn't take notice of it unless you already knew about it. I didn't know a lot of the history that this article provided, though... I love the thought of a >1k year old living thing just standing there inconspicuously.

sleepytimetea4y ago

I have walked past that tree probably more than a hundred times and I never knew it was that old or the originator of the name of the city. Its not very tall or massive, unlike the giant trees in the park on Lytton Ave. I always liked that big and tall condo building there - with big balconies facing the tree - was it fun to live in that bldg ?

jonshariat4y ago

Ditto! Man that was a great spot to live so much to walk to nearby and you have a caltrain stop right there.

I remember walking through that tiny park reading the usual signs when I read the Palo Alto one. Its very unassuming and I was so surprised I had to look it up and verify I had it right.

compsciphd4y ago

I used to drive by that park all the time (driving to San Mateo from Palo Alto down Alma, much easier than dealing with El Camino traffic) and never knew that was there.

contemporary3434y ago

Walked by it every day! I remember reading that if high speed rail ever does materialize (and that's a big, big if..) they'd have to do something about the track positions and the tree.

bombcar4y ago

It never occurred to me that Palo Alto means Tall Stick(Tree) even though I knew Alto meant tall.

noodlenotes4y ago

Just wait until you see the Stanford logo.

http://identity.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SU_N...

kajecounterhack4y ago

Isn't Stanford's tree a Sequoia, which is different from a Redwood?

dhosek4y ago

As noted in another comment, the genus of the redwood is Sequoia. The trees with the common name sequoia (which are a different genus) tend to be shorter than redwoods but also much thicker in their trunks. They are native to the mountains further inland (you'll find them in Yosemite as well as (unsurprisingly) Sequoia/King's Canyon National Park). I'm pretty sure that the Stanford tree is, in fact, a Sequoia and not a sequoia.

brudgers4y ago

The coastal redwood is sequoia sempervirens.

The giant sequoia is sequoiadendron giganteum.

So depending on how you look at it, either species is or ain’t a sequoia or vice versa or both.

zsmi4y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Tree

"The "Tree" is representative of El Palo Alto, the tree that appears on both the official seal of the University and the municipal seal of Palo Alto, Stanford's nearby city."

guipsp4y ago

If it makes you feel better, it never occurred to me either, and I know the meaning of both Palo and Alto

1 more reply

emmelaich4y ago

Same! Even though I knew the words palisades, impale, the phrase "beyond the pale" (beyond the fence).

All the same derivation.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pale#Etymology_2_2

jacquesm4y ago

Pole in English = Paal in Dutch = Palo in Spanish

kurofune4y ago

Not really, "palo" means "stick" in spanish.

Pole = Poste.

aljg4y ago

"Pole" in English is derived [1] from the Latin palus (from whence "palo"). The archaic English word "pale" (also meaning stick or stake) survives in the expression "beyond the pale."

[1]https://www.etymonline.com/word/pole

1 more reply

jacquesm4y ago

https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/palo

canadianfella4y ago

Poste is post... pole and stick can refer to the same thing.

batsy714y ago

I live right next to this tree. Interestingly, the city of Palo alto also has some electrical plumbing attached to this tree. Not sure if it's for the tree's health or just some connections for the nextdoor train tracks.

icedistilled4y ago

The article actually talks about a misting system set up a few decades ago for the tree since coastal redwoods can take in a lot of their water from fog. It didn't make clear what the current status of that system was or I missed that part.

hkmurakami4y ago

Redwoods are notoriously water hungry (and thus sometimes out of favor these days as part of landscaping these days), so it would not be surprising to install some help for this one.

vidarh4y ago

The Seattle Times appears to host a copy of the same article without a paywall (at least I'm not getting one):

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/the-unlikely-survi...

quercusa4y ago

I grew up on the East Coast, so my first trip to Big Basin Redwoods State Park [0] was awe-inspiring. I'm glad to see this tree surviving so far from its preferred environment.

[0] http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=540

drdeadringer4y ago

I also grew up on the East Coast.

My first "real" job out of University had me pinball around the continental US, which eventually lead me to California.

When I drove down from Washington [state], I passed through a grove of Redwoods. Having never been to California and never seen live and in person Redwood trees before, I took a few minutes to pull over and chill.

Clearly an experience I still remember.

dmckeon4y ago

Big Basin is mostly closed just now after the CZU fire, but I can recommend Henry Woods [1] if you are visiting Mendocino.

[1] https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=438

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26 comments

clpm4j4y ago

sleepytimetea4y ago

jonshariat4y ago

Ditto! Man that was a great spot to live so much to walk to nearby and you have a caltrain stop right there.

I remember walking through that tiny park reading the usual signs when I read the Palo Alto one. Its very unassuming and I was so surprised I had to look it up and verify I had it right.

compsciphd4y ago

I used to drive by that park all the time (driving to San Mateo from Palo Alto down Alma, much easier than dealing with El Camino traffic) and never knew that was there.

contemporary3434y ago

Walked by it every day! I remember reading that if high speed rail ever does materialize (and that's a big, big if..) they'd have to do something about the track positions and the tree.

bombcar4y ago

It never occurred to me that Palo Alto means Tall Stick(Tree) even though I knew Alto meant tall.

noodlenotes4y ago

Just wait until you see the Stanford logo.

http://identity.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SU_N...

kajecounterhack4y ago

Isn't Stanford's tree a Sequoia, which is different from a Redwood?

dhosek4y ago

brudgers4y ago

The coastal redwood is sequoia sempervirens.

The giant sequoia is sequoiadendron giganteum.

So depending on how you look at it, either species is or ain’t a sequoia or vice versa or both.

zsmi4y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Tree

"The "Tree" is representative of El Palo Alto, the tree that appears on both the official seal of the University and the municipal seal of Palo Alto, Stanford's nearby city."

guipsp4y ago

If it makes you feel better, it never occurred to me either, and I know the meaning of both Palo and Alto

1 more reply

emmelaich4y ago

Same! Even though I knew the words palisades, impale, the phrase "beyond the pale" (beyond the fence).

All the same derivation.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pale#Etymology_2_2

jacquesm4y ago

Pole in English = Paal in Dutch = Palo in Spanish

kurofune4y ago

Not really, "palo" means "stick" in spanish.

Pole = Poste.

aljg4y ago

"Pole" in English is derived [1] from the Latin palus (from whence "palo"). The archaic English word "pale" (also meaning stick or stake) survives in the expression "beyond the pale."

[1]https://www.etymonline.com/word/pole

1 more reply

jacquesm4y ago

https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/palo

canadianfella4y ago

Poste is post... pole and stick can refer to the same thing.

batsy714y ago

icedistilled4y ago

hkmurakami4y ago

Redwoods are notoriously water hungry (and thus sometimes out of favor these days as part of landscaping these days), so it would not be surprising to install some help for this one.

vidarh4y ago

The Seattle Times appears to host a copy of the same article without a paywall (at least I'm not getting one):

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/the-unlikely-survi...

quercusa4y ago

I grew up on the East Coast, so my first trip to Big Basin Redwoods State Park [0] was awe-inspiring. I'm glad to see this tree surviving so far from its preferred environment.

[0] http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=540

drdeadringer4y ago

I also grew up on the East Coast.

My first "real" job out of University had me pinball around the continental US, which eventually lead me to California.

Clearly an experience I still remember.

dmckeon4y ago

Big Basin is mostly closed just now after the CZU fire, but I can recommend Henry Woods [1] if you are visiting Mendocino.

[1] https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=438

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse