Redwood Drive

The largest of the Plympton streets to take their name from trees comes from, appropriately, the biggest tree on the planet. At over 360ft (110m), the coast redwood, at its home in northern California, is the tallest living thing on earth.

Although redwood fossils have been found in Britain, they are no longer native to these shores, and were introduced to Britain in 1843, 20 years after first being botanically described and 74 years after it was first recorded, on the North American Pacific Coast. Some Californian redwoods are more than 2,500 years old, though most are less than half that age. The oldest and largest collection of redwoods in Britain is in Powys, Wales, where some of these impressive trees have reached a height of over 140ft (43m).

Though they provide a light, reddish-brown timber, the redwood is still grown predominantly for its decorative value than for any commercial purposes.

EH 30 December 2006