| In 1972 I was on an Inter-Regional Fire Crew | | | | have the green chlorophyll in its foliage it will die. |
| (Hotshots) out of Clarkia, Idaho on the St. Joe | | | | So what was the reason that this tree had white |
| National Forest. Our job was to be ready to deploy | | | | foliage and yet it still survived? First of all, there was |
| on 15 minutes notice to fly wherever we were | | | | a genetic anomaly in the tree so that the tree did |
| needed to fight forest fires. In August of that year | | | | not have any chlorophyll. Second, it had to survive |
| we flew to Monterey, CA to fight a fire in the | | | | but how? The only explanation that I can give is that |
| southern redwoods and in the Manzanita scrub on | | | | it had a root graft to a normal productive redwood |
| the rim of the mountains. | | | | tree. Thus it was basically a parasite and took its |
| During the mopping up phase of this fire, just above | | | | nutrents from a healthy tree and that is how it |
| Big Sur, I was called down into a canyon by my | | | | survived. Without this root graft it would have died |
| fellow firefighters. I was the only person in the crew | | | | very early in its lifecycle. |
| that had a BS in Forestry and was working on my | | | | It is uncommon, but not unknown, for trees to have |
| Masters in Forestry at Yale University. They had | | | | white foliage without the life sustaining chlorophyll, |
| spotted a peculiar tree that defied a rational | | | | but they do not live long, only a few years. Is this |
| description. | | | | tree still living? It is doubtful. As the tree gets older |
| In the canyon was a redwood tree (Sequoia | | | | and larger it requires increased amounts of nutrients. |
| sempvirens) that had foliage that was completely | | | | Eventually the donor will be unable to accommodate |
| white, not the green that one would think of. The | | | | this high demand for nutrients and the parasitic tree |
| tree was not some small seedling of one or two | | | | will die. |
| years but rather a tree that was approximately 16 | | | | I still have photos of this tree as well as some of the |
| feet tall. Now remember if a tree does not have | | | | sample foliage. It was quite an unforgettable |
| green foliage, then it cannot take sunlight water and | | | | experience for someone schooled in botany and |
| nutrients and convert it into food for the tree | | | | forestry. As they say in the natural sciences: never |
| (photosynthesis). Quite simply, if the tree does not | | | | say never. |