El Palo Alto

El Palo Alto is a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), the, California, United States situated on the banks of the San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto, El Palo Alto Park. El Palo Alto is in Spanish, roughly translated, the high tree.

El Palo Alto is 110 feet ( 33.5 meters) tall (compared to 134.6 feet or 41 meters in 1951 ), it has a diameter of 90 inches ( 2.3 meters ) and a crown with a span of 40 feet (12 meters).

The tree is the historic California's Landmarks No. 2 ( number 1 is the customs office Monterey ). He is supported by the National Arborist Association and the International Society of Arboriculture for its historical importance as a " camp of the participants of the Portola Expedition of 1769 ", as well as frequently visited by the Costanoan / Ohlone Indians tree and because of its use as an observation tree for land surveyors that the El Camino Real presumptuous recognized. The tree is depicted on the official seal of the City of Palo Alto and the seal of Stanford University. He is probably the origin of the city name.

The tree dated about the year 940 and is supposedly healthier today than 100 years ago. El Palo Alto originally had a double trunk, but a flood at the San Francisquito Creek in 1887 tore off one of the two strains.

A decorative plate on the tree base bears the following inscription:

"Under this high redwood tree, the Palo Alto, encamped 6 November and November 11, 1729 Portola and his men on the expedition, in which the San Francisco Bay was discovered. He was the meeting point for their exploration departments. Here in 1774 Padre Palou erected a cross to mark the place for a planned mission (which was later built in Santa Clara). The famous topographic map of Pedro Font in 1776, contained the drawing of the original double -stemmed tree, the Palo Alto made ​​the official famous landmarks of California. "