Most “octopus” trees that I encountered, are Sitka Spruce trees that are growing atop a stump of a logged tree. Here in the coastal environs of northern California and southern Oregon the stumps are usually redwood or spruce. In my opinion, the best examples are of trees that rooted atop an old spruce stump. The spruce stumps are less resistant to rot than the redwood, and so they can decompose under the growing tree that is on it. Eventually the stump will decompose into the forest floor, leaving the spider tree as its memorial. If the tree that grows atop a redwood stump is a spruce, it may not last as long as the stump, and so are less common to my eyes*.
*I am not an expert, but these are my observations.
Stump atop a stump atop another stump. Canon 5dmIIA land octopus, Canon 5dmII at 20mm
THOMAS ALLEN BETHUNE
I have been interested in photography for most of my life. I started taking photographs with a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera when I was eight years old. My early subjects were trains and engineered structures as well as landscapes and family portraits. My interests and vision have matured, but the subjects that catch my eye continue to be of the same genre as my earliest visions.
A neighbor man had a darkroom, and he showed me the basics of camera operation and darkroom processing. I took courses in art and photography in high school and college. I worked as an apprentice to a commercial wedding and event photographer, and I was in charge of a recreational dark room while I was in the military. As an adult, I earned a bachelor’s degree in photography from Humboldt State University. My experience with film formats included 35mm, 2 ¼”, and 4”x 5”. I exhibited at galleries near my home in Arcata California, and in Santa Fe New Mexico.
All my current work is digital. I am scanning many of my legacy negatives and slides. I sometimes process and print the scanned negatives. I often post them on my blog. I process all of my prints with archival media.
An award winning fine art photographer living in a redwood forest.
BA Photography
Director, Redwood Art Association, Eureka CA
Co-curator, F Street Foto Gallery, Eureka CA
"I AM"- are the two most powerful words in the dictionary because the ending determines your destiny....so join me in my fight against PD to make sure that everyone who suffers from this chronic progressive degenerative disease can develop the courage to shout to the wind- I AM Fierce and Courageous ....
Thomas Bethune's Photographic Journal 
Wow, just amazing. The second image looks like something out of Star Wars. Expect to see an Ewok at any moment!
Very cool! I haven’t seen those.