Tallest Tree In Muir Woods Not As Old As Previously Thought

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - An analysis has found that the tallest redwood tree in Muir Woods is 777 years old -- and not the much older 1,500 years once assumed.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports Sunday that the study out of Humboldt State University is the first determination of the age of trees in Muir Woods, north of San Francisco. The findings mean that a 249-foot-tall coast redwood was born seven centuries later than originally believed, at the start of the Medieval Inquisition in the early 13th century.

This also means Muir Woods is just a baby compared with the huge old-growth trees farther north.

San Francisco's Save the Redwoods League is documenting the age, size, health and tree-ring history of California's last remaining old-growth redwood groves as part a statewide project.