Iluvatar is a
redwood
Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affini ...
tree in
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in
Northern California
Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
that has been confirmed to be at least in
diameter at breast height, and in height. Measured by
botanist
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
Stephen C. Sillett
Stephen C. Sillett (born March 19, 1968) is an American botanist specializing in old growth forest canopies. As the first scientist to enter the redwood forest canopy, he pioneered new methods for climbing, exploring, and studying tall trees. Sille ...
, it is the world's third-largest coast redwood, the largest being
Lost Monarch.
Iluvatar is located among a group of trees called
Atlas Grove. The location is unpublished. Atlas Grove, including Iluvatar, is a carefully studied area of forest. Measuring Iluvatar required five climbers for over 20 days. Iluvatar has 134 reiterated trunks, more than any except the Redwood Creek Giant. Its first reiterated trunk is 2.6 meters in diameter, the largest reiteration on any redwood. In total, reiterations account for 12.3 percent of its stemwood volume.
Like many old growth redwoods, trunks within the crown are hydraulically linked by fused branches. In addition to allowing for water transfer within the crown, these fusions strengthen the crown of the tree, making it more resilient to wind damage. Iluvatar has 30 such fusions.
This redwood tree was named by Sillett after
Eru Ilúvatar, the creator of the universe in
J. R. R. Tolkien's
legendarium, in which his novels ''
The Hobbit'', ''
The Lord of the Rings'' and ''
The Silmarillion'' take place.
The Atlas Grove (with Iluvatar) is said by author Richard Preston to have been discovered by naturalist Michael Taylor in 1991.
[Preston, Richard (2007). ''The Wild Trees: A Story Of Passion And Daring''. Allen Lane Publishers. page 82.]
This coastal redwood is surrounded by other old coastal redwoods including Atlas Tree, Gaia, Pleiades, Ballantine, Prometheus, Bell, Zeus and others. Ballantine was named after a real man. Some were named after ancient
Greek gods. Neighboring species include ''
Pseudotsuga menziesii'', ''
Picea sitchensis'', ''
Acer macrophyllum'', ''
Rhamnus purshiana'', ''
Umbellularia californica'', ''
Tsuga heterophylla'', ''
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana'' and ''
Lithocarpus densiflorus''.
See also
*
List of individual trees
The following is a list of notable trees. Trees listed here are regarded as important or specific by their historical, national, locational, natural or mythological context. The list includes actual trees located throughout the world, as well as ...
References
External links
Orion Article: Day of Discovery - Excerpted from ''The Wild Trees'' by Richard Preston{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509101159/http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/234/ , date=2008-05-09
Photograph Documentation and Photographs including 'Iluvatar' redwood
Individual coast redwood trees
Redwood National and State Parks
Organisms named after Tolkien and his works