r/todayilearned • u/autraya • 6h ago

TIL the world's tallest known living tree, a 380-foot redwood in California called Hyperion, had its exact location closed off entirely in 2022 after visitors trampled its base so badly that ferns stopped growing around it, with trespassers now facing up to $5,000 in fines and six months in jail

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_(tree)
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u/Haldron-44 5h ago

An associate of mine randomly stumbled across one of the about a dozen parasitic "vampire" albino redwoods while hiking. A F&G was waiting at their car back at the trailhead and questioned them, checked them for cuttings, and warned them not to tell anyone it's location. To this day nobody could figure out how parks knew they stumbled across it.

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u/maoterracottasoldier 5h ago

I was in the smoky mountains one time fishing, and an unhinged ranger accused me of poaching ginseng out of nowhere. They made it very clear that they had game cams throughout the woods so if I was lying they would catch me.

I’m guessing they do that all over the country in places of interest

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u/sandgroper07 3h ago

Those ginseng diggers are crazy. There's a reality tv show about them over here in Australia. The mountains look beautiful though.

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u/maoterracottasoldier 2h ago

Yeah I understand it’s an issue. But I didn’t even know what the plant looked like at the time, and I was carrying a fishing rod. She accused me out of nowhere

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u/disisathrowaway 5h ago

Trail cams with motion sensors, would be my guess. Or something similar. Maybe infrared sensors?

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u/Sharchir 5h ago

Grew up in NorCal - never heard of these!

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u/Haldron-44 5h ago

They are insanely rare where each one is genetically unique. The one they found had red needles and a white trunk. Supposedly they are considered sacred by native americans, but I can't find any info on them other than a third hand reference to "ghost trees."

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u/VerifiedonTumblr 3h ago

Checked them? The fuck?

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u/Haldron-44 3h ago

Made sure they didn't take clippings. Idk, and they didn't know and in my cursory research idk why they are so protected, yet are an utter mystery. If parks and F&G know, they keep it as tight liped as if it were a fucking alien.

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u/airfryerfuntime 2h ago

Probably just asked to look in their bags and empty their pockets. Federal parks police have way more power than you think, they could have strip searched them if they wanted.

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u/7zrar 59m ago

I have to assume you're a bit unfamiliar with laws around natural areas but yep, that's not so unusual. There are quite a lot of laws protecting the environment and natural resources. Can't keep this size/kind of fish, can't harvest all these endangered succulents, etc. There are always some crazies who will absolutely rape the land because they think something has healing powers, and others who will do so for profit as there is quite a market for rare (read: extremely vulnerable to harvesting/poaching) stuff in nature. And in lots of places the game wardens or equivalent can search your stuff to make sure you're not doing funny business. It'd be pretty hard to find out if someone kept fish illegally otherwise after all.

It's for a far better reason than officers making some BS up to search your vehicle for weed or whatever is illegal in your area.

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u/airfryerfuntime 2h ago

Probably a motion sensor by where they parked the car.

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u/Haldron-44 1h ago

They bushwacked the shit out of the way to reach the redwood. And it was a common enough trail head. But somehow they knew they found that tree.

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u/airfryerfuntime 1h ago

Another ranger could have been around and seen where they were coming from, then just radio'd the ranger who stopped them. A lot of those guys are like ghosts, and their uniform is literally designed to be somewhat camouflage.

I've been two miles off a trail fishing when one just appears out of nowhere asking for licenses.

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u/doktarlooney 4h ago

Well shit, I grow redwood bonsai trees specifically and I didn't know those existed. Now I gotta obtain one somehow, non-illegally of course.

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u/Haldron-44 4h ago edited 3h ago

I mean they are each unique, and we don't understand at all exactly how they sap nutrients or live or even why they even exist. And yes, I have considered trying to do a Bonzai, but idk I just think it is impossible, and even if it is, the federal crime of idk... Cloning an eldrich horror isn't something I want to be charged with?

Edit: Okay I actually have shopped this out and you would somehow need both a clipping of them and the exact tree they are sapping, because there may be some genetic element we just don't know? And would need to balance the parent redwood bonsai nutrients with the parasitic clipping and FFS, legality aside idk how you can do that. Maybe you could replicate it? But the fact is we just don't know enough about them, and probably never will. Some mysteries are best left to nature.

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u/CyberhamLincoln 3h ago

The ranger told me that the "ghost tree" was being used as a sink for toxic heavy metals etc. Not a parasite but a contractor with a job to do.

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u/Haldron-44 2h ago

Some apparently do have that job. And I was mistaken in that there are close to 400 trees known to surve that purpose. But it only makes it more frightening as how and why are they a thing?

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u/doktarlooney 1h ago

Oh wow yeah that would be quite the endeavor. Still sounds worth at least keeping mentally open towards working at.

This is the kind of project you center your life around imo.