There is a small grove of Coast Redwood trees at the beginning of the river path in front of the White Oak Pavilion. During the ice storm, two of them sustained significant damage, and they cut them down for safety reasons I suppose. As a survival mechanism, heaps of sprouts have erupted from this stump transforming it into a small shrub.
Two conifers on the West Coast produce sprouts from the base if they are cut down or sustain injury, the Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and the Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia). A side note, the Pacific Yew is “grouped with the conifers because it has needlelike foliage, its fruit is not a cone. Instead, it’s an aril—a large, single seed surrounded by a soft, fleshy, bright red pulp (Jensen, pg. 58),” which are highly poisonous.
In an article by the Penn State Extension, What Makes Some Tree Species Prolific Stump Sprouters?, it says: “Stump sprouts come about from suppressed dormant buds at the root collar of a tree – the meeting place of the stem and roots – that become active in the case of injury or extreme environmental changes that induce stress. While there are dormant buds that exist all over the tree, sometimes referred to as epicormic buds, they typically have a short lifespan after emergence and give rise to branches, not new stems (trunks). Dormant buds at the root collar, however, have traces all the way to the pith and in some species may live just as long if not longer than the main stem. They formed when the tree first put out roots and shoots.
The dormant buds grow slowly along with the tree; staying near the surface of the living wood beneath the bark. They also are believed to be genetically more juvenile which means that these buds are not necessarily a continuation of the tree's life but more of a revitalization, rebirth.”
If you look on the left side of the shrubby stump, you will see a small trunk that was sprouting from the base of the tree that wasn’t cut down or damaged. You can see in one of the photos below that this small trunk developing doesn’t look to be in that great of condition, but I need to go back and take a closer look at it. I will be interested to see how the sprouts on this stump continue to grow and develop over the next few years. Will they revitalize the already developing small trunk and die off or will one of the sprouts become a trunk and develop into a new tree?
Resources
Jensen, Edward C., et al. Trees to Know in Oregon. Rev. April 2005., Oregon State University, 2005.
What Makes Some Tree Species Prolific Stump Sprouters? https://extension.psu.edu/what-makes-some-tree-species-prolific-stump-sprouters. Accessed 18 Aug. 2024.
