cypress

The orange, velvety stuff on the tree is green algae. Its orange color comes from carotene, a pigment which also occurs in carrots. The plant does not harm the trees.A.M. Allan and his wife were the owners of Point Lobos whose foresight and decades-long work led to its protection and in 1933 it became part of the new state park system.These cypresses, which formerly extended over a much wider range, withdrew to these fog-shrouded headlands as the climate changed with the close of the Pleistocene epoch 15,000 years ago. The trees mirror the forces of nature and time; they survive the salt spray and wind, with their roots seeking nourishment in cracks and crevices.