Knotty Lady coast redwood
"Free Spirit Grove" - Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
Copyright 2018 by Mario Vaden
The coast redwood in the background is the Knotty Lady in Prairie Creek redwood park. The whereabouts are in an abandoned area of the park nicknamed Valley the Lost Groves. Even though larger redwoods grow near, it commands almost all the attention of anyone wandering around it. The man in the photo is Andrew Joslin who illustrated a redwood adventure book for Richard Preston. The burls on this redwood trunk are knot-like or "knotty" in appearance.
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The Knotty Lady redwood grows along an abandoned section of James Irvine trail. A bench blocks the entrance along one of the park's mapped trails. And the remnant of the abandoned trail end meets present day James Irvine trail slightly west of a memorial bench.
The cause of burls is not fully understood. Much of what's written about burls is stretched beyond observable facts. Burls are not rare in the redwoods but a trunk with this many is somewhat rare. Burls are irregular development of growth rings and wood. Redwood burls are among the largest in the world. They can be used for woodworking like bowls or furniture. And pieces placed in water can sprout and reproduce. Had the Knotty Lady been next to Drury Parkway instead, the trunk may have been targeted by the convicted burl poacher of Orick. Good for this redwood that it grew deeper in the forest. More about the burl problem can be read at Burl Poaching
More places to see interesting burls
My site has another page called Redwood Faces and Shapes which deals more with individual burls. But to see burls first-hand, there are plenty of options.If you want to a see redwoods that have several burls, a couple of interesting specimens in this same park stand next to James Irvine trail and another near Miners Ridge trail. Those trails form a loop. The Gargoyle Redwood on Miners Ridge trail has a lot of burls on the lower trunk that are easier to photograph for conversation. Just take the hike, I'm sure you will spot them with ease.
The Mutant redwood and Titanic Cathedral redwood are also in close proximity to the Knotty Lady. Over the years, I photographed all these several times with several people. The natural light is very unpredicable and it took plenty of trial and error for a couple of the redwoods in there.
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