When I was in California this summer, I hiked through the interpretive trail at the Henry Cowell Redwood Park. I was intrigued by one stop, where the pamphlet mentioned I could see albino needles--needles with no chlorophyl. The pamphlet said that this was a very unique specimen, since obviously most plants without chlorophyl would die. In the case of the Redwood, new Redwoods live off the root systems of their predecessors, and often will intertwine with the root systems of their neighbors. This was the case with this particular tree--it was getting it's photosynthesis through it's needles, but by siphoning off what it needed from it's neighbor. Pretty cool stuff!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10109/Albino%20Needles_1_1.jpg)
I have never seen an albino pine but I have seen albino plants on the farm. I tusually is caused by an over concentrated amount of herbicide on plants that can tolerate it. ie. stoping and checking sprayer nozzoles with the sparyer still spraying or at the mixing site.
Farmerdoug
I stood in wonderment in front of that very same tree back in May! I go to Santa Cruz every memorial weekend to celebrate my cuz's bday and attend the SC Blues Festival. Small world.
The festival is actually held in a natural bowl in Aptos. Any chance you played your gig there?
On the Queen Charlotte Islands off the coast of Western BC there was a sitka spruce that was golden yellow until a trouble maker cut it down. >:(
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4679760
http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/forums/showthread.php?t=269
I used to have a couple albina white spruce started from rooted cuttings from the parent tree. They would flush white or yellowish and turn green later in the season. They were curious, as they behaved like a tree branch in their growth habits, and did not grow up like a tree.
Excellent....Very interesting.
Small world, OWW. That place is AMAZING! I was really blown away by the redwoods at Henry Cowell. I guess it's no wonder that a fellow FFer stopped by there too. As to Aptos, my gig was actually in the Civic Center in Santa Cruz, so I wasn't over there at Aptos. It's a crazy little town--I like it, but it's sorta out there, if you know what I mean--pretty high in the wacko quotient. ::)
What you probably saw was a variegated plant. Variegation occurs mostly in small broadleaf plantssuch as forbs but occassionally it occurs in conifers. Typically variegation in the forb type plants is the white that you saw and because of its unusual nature some plant breeders select for it. When it occurs in conifers it comes off more as a creamy white color rather than the pure white that you saw. There is, or was, a Lodgepole pine near Bovill, Idaho that was identified by one of the University of Idaho professors as being variegated. I've seen the tree several times, though not recently, and it had the cream colored needles in bunches through out the entire crown and the tree itself as 40-50 years old and 75-80 feet tall. So the variegation doesn't necessarily retard the growth of the tree. Consider yourself lucky that you got to see an unusual plant mutation especially such a pure white color on a coniferous plant.
Actually, according to the forestry station and the foresters there at the Park, they said that it is a true case of albinoism, which is probably even more rare than the variegation you're talking about...so I consider myself truly lucky! 8)
Yes, what you saw was a true albino tree. They can survive only because their mycorrhizae (the fungus-root system) are linked to the mycorrhizae of other nearby trees. Most albinos die upon germination, but in a few species, especially redwood, they can survive for quite a long time. I have seen other conifers do this, but never seen a hardwood survive as an albino.