Coast redwoods – enormous, spectacular trees, some reaching nearly 400 feet, the tallest plants on the planet – thrive mostly in a narrow strip of land in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. …They have grown by slowly responding to moisture and rich alluvial soil over millennia, combined with a genetic payload that pushes them to the upper limits of tree height. They are at risk – down to perhaps 70,000 individuals, falling from at least a half-million trees before humans arrived – but that’s not a new story, for we are all at risk. Redwoods, like all trees, are engineered marvels. …They are born to change, just as humans are born to change. …But redwoods also are adapting. …A 2018 survey of nine large redwood trees found a total of 137 species of lichen growing on the trees, including several that were new to science.