The timeless beauty of these groves results at least in part from the dramatic contrast of many elements. The rough textured reddish bark of the redwood trees themselves, the delicate greenery of redwood foliage, the lush carpet of sorrel, mosses and ferns on the forest floor, sunlight filtering down over these colors and textures in ever-changing patterns all contribute to the entirety. The tranquility of a redwood grove is even more impressive when one remembers that all of the older trees in this forest have survived repeated windstorms, fires and floods. Their quiet, stately endurance to survive is awesome. The redwoods pithy bark and lack of true resin makes them naturally fire and insect resistant.
Redwoods can grow tissue to heal fire scarring, sometimes completely covering the scar.
They can also grow a buttress to compensate for a lean. Coast redwoods do not have a single taproot. Instead, they form a shallow network of relatively small roots that extend radially, up to a hundred feet from the base. The ends of the roots are fibrous, allowing them maximum surface area to obtain moisture and nutrients. If a flood buries the roots too deeply in silt, they have the ability to grow and explore their way upward toward more oxygenated soil.