''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (giant sequoia; also known as giant redwood, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, California big tree, Wellingtonia or simply big treea nickname also used by
John Muir
John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...
) is the sole living species in the genus ''
Sequoiadendron
''Sequoiadendron'' is a genus of evergreen trees, with two species, only one of which survives to the present:
* ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'', extant, commonly known as wellingtonia, giant redwood and giant sequoia, growing naturally in the Sie ...
'', and one of three species of
conifer
Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...
ous
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s known as
redwoods
Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Cupressaceae. It includes the largest and tallest trees in the world.
Description
The three redwood subfamily genera are '' Sequoia'' from co ...
, classified in the family
Cupressaceae
Cupressaceae is a conifer family, the cypress family, with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdio ...
in the subfamily
Sequoioideae
Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Cupressaceae. It includes the largest and tallest trees in the world.
Description
The three redwood subfamily genera are '' Sequoia'' from coast ...
, together with ''
Sequoia sempervirens
''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...
'' (coast redwood) and ''
Metasequoia glyptostroboides
''Metasequoia glyptostroboides'', the dawn redwood, is a fast-growing, endangered deciduous pinophyta, conifer. It is the sole living species of the genus ''Metasequoia'', one of three genera in the subfamily Sequoioideae of the family (botany), ...
'' (dawn redwood). Giant sequoia specimens are the most massive trees on Earth.
The common use of the name ''sequoia'' usually refers to ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'', which occurs naturally only in groves on the western slopes of the
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
mountain range of California.
The giant sequoia is listed as an
endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
by the IUCN, with fewer than 80,000 trees remaining. Since its last assessment as an endangered species in 2011, it was estimated that another 13–19% of the population (or 9,761–13,637 mature trees) was destroyed during the
Castle Fire
SQF Complex or Sequoia Complex was a complex of two of the August 2020 California lightning wildfires, burning in Sequoia National Forest and adjacent areas. Sparked on August 19, it included the Castle and Shotgun fires. As of January 5, 2021 ...
of 2020 and the
KNP Complex &
Windy Fire in 2021, events attributed to
fire suppression
Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts in wild land areas require different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated ...
,
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
and
global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
.
Despite their large size and adaptations to fire, giant sequoias have become severely threatened by a combination of fuel load from
fire suppression
Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts in wild land areas require different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated ...
, which fuels extremely destructive fires that are also
exacerbated by drought and climate change. These conditions have led to the death of many populations in large fires in recent decades. Prescribed burns to reduce available fuel load may be crucial for saving the species.
The etymology of the genus name has been presumedinitially in ''The Yosemite Book'' by
Josiah Whitney
Josiah Dwight Whitney (November 23, 1819 – August 18, 1896) was an American geologist, professor of geology at Harvard University (from 1865), and chief of the California Geological Survey (1860–1874). Through his travels and studies in the ...
in 1868
to be in honor of
Sequoyah
Sequoyah (Cherokee language, Cherokee: ᏍᏏᏉᏯ, ''Ssiquoya'', or ᏎᏉᏯ, ''Se-quo-ya''; 1770 – August 1843), also known as George Gist or George Guess, was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American polymath of the Ch ...
(1767–1843), who was the inventor of the
Cherokee syllabary
The Cherokee syllabary is a syllabary invented by Sequoyah in the late 1810s and early 1820s to write the Cherokee language. His creation of the syllabary is particularly noteworthy as he was illiterate until the creation of his syllabary. He ...
.
An etymological study published in 2012 concluded that Austrian
Stephen L. Endlicher is actually responsible for the name. A linguist and botanist, Endlicher corresponded with experts in the Cherokee language including Sequoyah, whom he admired. He also realized that coincidentally the genus could be described in Latin as ''sequi'' (meaning ''to follow'') because the number of seeds per cone in the newly classified genus aligned in mathematical sequence with the other four genera in the suborder. Endlicher thus coined the name "Sequoia" as both a description of the tree's genus and an honor to the indigenous man he admired.
Description
![Sequoiadendron giganteum MHNT](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Sequoiadendron_giganteum_MHNT.BOT.2004.0.191.jpg)
Giant sequoia specimens are the most massive individual trees in the world.
[ They grow to an average height of with trunk diameters ranging from . Record trees have been measured at tall. Trunk diameters of have been claimed via research figures taken out of context.] The specimen known to have the greatest diameter at breast height
Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree. DBH is one of the most common dendrometric measurements.
Tree trunks are measured at the height of an adult's breast, ...
is the General Grant tree
The General Grant tree is the largest giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') in the General Grant Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park in California and the second largest giant sequoia tree in the world. Once thought to be well ...
at . Between 2014 and 2016, it is claimed that specimens of coast redwood
''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...
were found to have greater trunk diameters than all known giant sequoias - though this has not been independently verified or affirmed in any academic literature. The trunks of coast redwoods taper at lower heights than those of giant sequoias which have more columnar trunks that maintain larger diameters to greater heights.
The oldest known giant sequoia is 3,200–3,266 years old based on dendrochronology
Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...
. Giant sequoias are among the oldest living organisms on Earth, and are the verified third longest-lived tree species after the Great Basin bristlecone pine
''Pinus longaeva'' (commonly referred to as the Great Basin bristlecone pine, intermountain bristlecone pine, or western bristlecone pine) is a long-living species of bristlecone pine tree found in the higher mountains of California, Nevada, and ...
and alerce. Giant sequoia bark is fibrous, furrowed, and may be thick at the base of the columnar trunk. The sap contains tannic acid
Tannic acid is a specific form of tannin, a type of polyphenol. Its weak acidity ( pKa around 6) is due to the numerous phenol groups in the structure. The chemical formula for commercial tannic acid is often given as C76H52O46, which correspon ...
, which provides significant protection from fire damage. The leaves are evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
, awl-shaped, long, and arranged spirally on the shoots.
The giant sequoia regenerates by seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
. The seed cones
A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex.
A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...
are long and mature in 18–20 months, though they typically remain green and closed for as long as 20 years. Each cone has 30–50 spirally arranged scales, with several seeds on each scale, giving an average of 230 seeds per cone. Seeds are dark brown, long, and broad, with a wide, yellow-brown wing along each side. Some seeds shed when the cone scales shrink during hot weather in late summer, but most are liberated by insect damage or when the cone dries from the heat of fire. Young trees start to bear cones after 12 years.
Trees may produce sprouts from their stumps subsequent to injury, until about 20 years old; however, shoots do not form on the stumps of mature trees as they do on coast redwoods. Giant sequoias of all ages may sprout from their boles when branches are lost to fire or breakage.
A large tree may have as many as 11,000 cones. Cone production is greatest in the upper portion of the canopy. A mature giant sequoia disperses an estimated 300–400 thousand seeds annually. The winged seeds may fly as far as from the parent tree.
Lower branches die readily from being shaded, but trees younger than 100 years retain most of their dead branches. Trunks of mature trees in groves are generally free of branches to a height of , but solitary trees retain lower branches.
Distribution
The natural distribution of giant sequoias is restricted to a limited area of the western Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
, California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. As a paleoendemic Paleoendemism along with neoendemism is a possible subcategory of endemism. Paleoendemism refers to species that were formerly widespread but are now restricted to a smaller area. Neoendemism refers to species that have recently arisen, such as thro ...
species, they occur in scattered groves, with a total of 81 groves (see list of sequoia groves for a full inventory), comprising a total area of only . Nowhere does it grow in pure stands, although in a few small areas, stands do approach a pure condition. The northern two-thirds of its range, from the American River
, name_etymology =
, image = American River CA.jpg
, image_size = 300
, image_caption = The American River at Folsom
, map = Americanrivermap.png
, map_size = 300
, map_caption ...
in Placer County
Placer County ( ; Spanish for "sand deposit"), officially the County of Placer, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 404,739. The county seat is Auburn.
Placer County is included in the G ...
southward to the Kings River, has only eight disjunct groves. The remaining southern groves are concentrated between the Kings River and the Deer Creek Grove in southern Tulare County
Tulare County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 473,117. The county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes. ...
. Groves range in size from with 20,000 mature trees, to small groves with only six living trees. Many are protected in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park
Kings Canyon National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and renamed to Kings ...
s and Giant Sequoia National Monument
The Giant Sequoia National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the southern Sierra Nevada in eastern central California. It is administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Sequoia National Forest and includes 38 of the 3 ...
.
The giant sequoia is usually found in a humid climate characterized by dry summers and snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
y winters. Most giant sequoia groves are on granitic-based residual and alluvial
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
soils. The elevation of the giant sequoia groves generally ranges from in the north, to to the south. Giant sequoias generally occur on the south-facing sides of northern mountains, and on the northern faces of more southerly slopes.
High levels of reproduction are not necessary to maintain the present population levels. Few groves, however, have sufficient young trees to maintain the present density of mature giant sequoias for the future. The majority of giant sequoia groves are currently undergoing a gradual decline in density since European settlement.
Historic range
While the present day distribution of this species is limited to a small area of California, it was once much more widely distributed in prehistoric times, and was a reasonably common species in North American and Eurasian coniferous forests until its range was greatly reduced by the last ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
. Older fossil specimens reliably identified as giant sequoia have been found in Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
era sediments from a number of sites in North America and Europe, and even as far afield as New Zealand and Australia.
Artificial groves
In 1974, a group of giant sequoias was planted by the United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
in the San Jacinto Mountains
The San Jacinto Mountains (''Avii Hanupach''Munro, P., et al. ''A Mojave Dictionary''. Los Angeles: UCLA. 1992. in Mojave) are a mountain range in Riverside County, located east of Los Angeles in southern California in the United States. The mou ...
of Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
in the immediate aftermath of a wildfire that left the landscape barren. The giant sequoias were rediscovered in 2008 by botanist Rudolf Schmid and his daughter Mena Schmidt while hiking on Black Mountain Trail through Hall Canyon. Black Mountain Grove
Black Mountain Grove is a large sequoia grove containing more than 500 large trees, on the slopes of Black Mountain located between the Middle and South Forks of Tule River. It lies partly in the Tule River Indian Reservation. Black Mountain Gro ...
is home to over 150 giant sequoias, some of which stand over tall. This grove is not to be confused with the Black Mountain Grove
Black Mountain Grove is a large sequoia grove containing more than 500 large trees, on the slopes of Black Mountain located between the Middle and South Forks of Tule River. It lies partly in the Tule River Indian Reservation. Black Mountain Gro ...
in the southern Sierra. Nearby Lake Fulmor Grove is home to seven giant sequoias, the largest of which is tall. The two groves are located approximately southeast of the southernmost naturally occurring giant sequoia grove, Deer Creek Grove
Deer Creek Grove is a small giant sequoia grove located in the Deer Creek watershed of the Giant Sequoia National Monument in the western Sierra Nevada of California. The grove is located near the end of a steep trail south from the end of Deer ...
.
It was later discovered that the United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
had planted giant sequoias across Southern California. However, the giant sequoias of Black Mountain Grove
Black Mountain Grove is a large sequoia grove containing more than 500 large trees, on the slopes of Black Mountain located between the Middle and South Forks of Tule River. It lies partly in the Tule River Indian Reservation. Black Mountain Gro ...
and nearby Lake Fulmor Grove are the only ones known to be reproducing and propagating free of human intervention. The conditions of the San Jacinto Mountains
The San Jacinto Mountains (''Avii Hanupach''Munro, P., et al. ''A Mojave Dictionary''. Los Angeles: UCLA. 1992. in Mojave) are a mountain range in Riverside County, located east of Los Angeles in southern California in the United States. The mou ...
mimic those of the Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
, allowing the trees to naturally propagate throughout the canyon.
Ecology
Giant sequoias are in many ways adapted to forest fires. Their bark is unusually fire resistant, and their cones will normally open immediately after a fire. Giant sequoias are a pioneer species
Pioneer species are hardy species that are the first to colonize barren environments or previously biodiverse steady-state ecosystems that have been disrupted, such as by wildfire.
Pioneer flora
Some lichens grow on rocks without soil, so m ...
, and are having difficulty reproducing in their original habitat (and very rarely reproduce in cultivation) due to the seeds only being able to grow successfully in full sun and in mineral-rich soils, free from competing vegetation. Although the seeds can germinate in moist needle humus
In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...
in the spring, these seedlings will die as the duff dries in the summer. They therefore require periodic wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...
to clear competing vegetation and soil humus before successful regeneration can occur. Without fire, shade-loving species will crowd out young sequoia seedlings, and sequoia seeds will not germinate. When fully grown, these trees typically require large amounts of water and are therefore often concentrated near streams. Squirrels, chipmunks, finches and sparrows consume the freshly sprouted seedlings, preventing their growth.
Fires also bring hot air high into the canopy via convection
Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the convec ...
, which in turn dries and opens the cones. The subsequent release of large quantities of seeds coincides with the optimal postfire seedbed
A seedbed or seedling bed is the local soil environment in which seeds are planted. Often it comprises not only the soil but also a specially prepared cold frame, hotbed or raised bed used to grow the seedlings in a controlled environment into l ...
conditions. Loose ground ash may also act as a cover to protect the fallen seeds from ultraviolet radiation
Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation i ...
damage.
Due to fire suppression efforts and livestock grazing during the early and mid-20th century, low-intensity fires no longer occurred naturally in many groves, and still do not occur in some groves today. The suppression of fires leads to ground fuel build-up and the dense growth of fire-sensitive white fir
''Abies concolor'', the white fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Cascade Range and southern Rocky Mountains, and into the isolated mountain range ...
, which increases the risk of more intense fires that can use the firs as ladders to threaten mature giant sequoia crowns. Natural fires may also be important in keeping carpenter ant
Carpenter ants (''Camponotus'' spp.) are large () ants indigenous to many forested parts of the world.
They build nests inside wood consisting of galleries chewed out with their mandibles or jaws, preferably in dead, damp wood. However, unlik ...
s in check.
In 1970, the National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
began controlled burns of its groves to correct these problems. Current policies also allow natural fires to burn. One of these untamed burns severely damaged the second-largest tree in the world, the Washington tree
The Washington tree is a giant sequoia in the Giant Forest Grove in Tulare County, California, within Sequoia National Park. It is named after George Washington, first President of the United States. Until it partially collapsed in January 2005, ...
, in September 2003, 45 days after the fire started. This damage made it unable to withstand the snowstorm of January 2005, leading to the collapse of over half the trunk.
In addition to fire, two animal agents also assist giant sequoia seed release. The more significant of the two is a longhorn beetle
The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns, are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than ...
(''Phymatodes nitidus
''Phymatodes nitidus'' is a species of longhorn beetle. It lays its eggs on the surface of giant sequoia and coast redwood cones, into which the larvae then burrow.
References
* Thomas, H.H.; Shellhammer, H.S.; and Stecker, R.E. (1980). Gia ...
'') that lays eggs on the cones, into which the larvae then bore holes. Reduction of the vascular water supply to the cone scales allows the cones to dry and open for the seeds to fall. Cones damaged by the beetles during the summer will slowly open over the next several months. Some research indicates many cones, particularly higher in the crowns, may need to be partially dried by beetle damage before fire can fully open them. The other agent is the Douglas squirrel
The Douglas squirrel (''Tamiasciurus douglasii'') is a pine squirrel found in the Pacific Northwest of North America, including the northwestern coastal states of the United States as well as the southwestern coast of British Columbia in Canada, ...
(''Tamiasciurus douglasi'') that gnaws on the fleshy green scales of younger cones. The squirrels are active year-round, and some seeds are dislodged and dropped as the cone is eaten.
Genome
The genome of the giant sequoia was published in 2020. The size of the giant sequoia genome is 8.125 Gb (8.125 billion base pairs) which were assembled into eleven chromosome-scale scaffolds, the largest to date of any organism.
This is the first genome sequenced in the Cupressaceae
Cupressaceae is a conifer family, the cypress family, with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdio ...
family, and it provides insights into disease resistance and survival for this robust species on a genetic basis. The genome was found to contain over 900 complete or partial predicted NLR genes used by plants to prevent the spread of infection by microbial pathogens.
The genome sequence
In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding g ...
was extracted from a single fertilized seed harvested from a 1,360-year-old tree specimen in Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park identified as SEGI 21. It was sequenced over a three-year period by researchers at University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...
, Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
, University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...
, and Northern Arizona University
Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state.
...
and was supported by grants from Save the Redwoods League
Save the Redwoods League is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and restore coast redwood (''Sequoia sempervirens'') and giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees through the preemptive purchase of development rights ...
and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is a U.S. federal government body whose creation was mandated in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. Its purpose is to consolidate all federally funded agricultural research, an ...
as part of a species conservation, restoration and management effort.
Discovery and naming
The giant sequoia was well known to Native American tribes living in its area. Native American names for the species include ''wawona'', ''toos-pung-ish'' and ''hea-mi-withic'', the latter two in the language of the Tule River Tribe
The Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans. The Tule River Reservation is located in Tulare County, California. The reservation was made up of Yokuts, about 200 Yowlumne, Wukchu ...
.
The first reference to the giant sequoia by Europeans is in 1833, in the diary of the explorer J. K. Leonard; the reference does not mention any locality, but his route would have taken him through the Calaveras Grove.[, Yosemite.ca.us] Leonard's observation was not publicized. The next European to see the species was John M. Wooster, who carved his initials in the bark of the 'Hercules' tree in the Calaveras Grove in 1850; again, this observation received no publicity. Much more publicity was given to the "discovery" by Augustus T. Dowd of the Calaveras Grove in 1852, and this is commonly cited as the species' discovery by non-natives. The tree found by Dowd, christened the 'Discovery Tree', was felled in 1853.
The first scientific naming of the species was by John Lindley
John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist.
Early years
Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...
in December 1853, who named it ''Wellingtonia gigantea'', without realizing this was an invalid name under the botanical code
The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "trad ...
as the name ''Wellingtonia'' had already been used earlier for another unrelated plant ('' Wellingtonia arnottiana'' in the family Sabiaceae
Sabiaceae is a family of flowering plants that were placed in the order Proteales according to the APG IV system. It comprises three genera, '' Meliosma'', '' Ophiocaryon'' and '' Sabia'', with 66 known species, native to tropical to warm temper ...
). The name "Wellingtonia" has persisted in England as a common name. The following year, Joseph Decaisne
Joseph Decaisne (7 March 1807 – 8 January 1882) was a French botanist and agronomist. He became an ''aide-naturaliste'' to Adrien-Henri de Jussieu (1797-1853), who served as the chair of rural botany. It was during this time that he began to stu ...
transferred it to the same genus as the coast redwood, naming it ''Sequoia gigantea'', but again this name was invalid, having been applied earlier (in 1847, by Endlicher
Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher also known as Endlicher István László (24 June 1804, Pressburg, Bratislava (Pozsony) – 28 March 1849, Vienna) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian botanist, numismatist and Sinologist. He was a director of the Botan ...
) to the coast redwood. The name ''Washingtonia californica'' was also applied to it by Winslow in 1854, though this too is invalid, belonging to the palm
Palm most commonly refers to:
* Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand
* Palm plants, of family Arecaceae
**List of Arecaceae genera
* Several other plants known as "palm"
Palm or Palms may also refer to:
Music
* Palm (ba ...
genus ''Washingtonia
''Washingtonia'' is a genus of palms, native to the southwestern United States (in southern California, and southwest Arizona) and northwest Mexico (in Baja California and Sonora). Both ''Washingtonia'' species are commonly cultivated across t ...
''.
In 1907, it was placed by Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze
Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze (23 June 1843 – 27 January 1907) was a German botanist.
Biography
Otto Kuntze was born in Leipzig.
An apothecary in his early career, he published an essay entitled ''Pocket Fauna of Leipzig''. Between 1863 and 1866 he ...
in the otherwise fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
genus '' Steinhauera'', but doubt as to whether the giant sequoia is related to the fossil originally so named makes this name invalid.
The nomenclatural oversights were finally corrected in 1939 by John Theodore Buchholz
John Theodore Buchholz (1888–1951) was an American botanist, specialising in gymnosperm
The gymnosperms ( lit. revealed seeds) are a group of seed-producing plants that includes conifers, cycads, '' Ginkgo'', and gnetophytes, forming th ...
, who also pointed out the giant sequoia is distinct from the coast redwood at the genus level and coined the name ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' for it.
The etymology of the genus name has been presumedinitially in ''The Yosemite Book'' by Josiah Whitney
Josiah Dwight Whitney (November 23, 1819 – August 18, 1896) was an American geologist, professor of geology at Harvard University (from 1865), and chief of the California Geological Survey (1860–1874). Through his travels and studies in the ...
in 1868[to be in honor of ]Sequoyah
Sequoyah (Cherokee language, Cherokee: ᏍᏏᏉᏯ, ''Ssiquoya'', or ᏎᏉᏯ, ''Se-quo-ya''; 1770 – August 1843), also known as George Gist or George Guess, was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American polymath of the Ch ...
(1767–1843), who was the inventor of the Cherokee syllabary
The Cherokee syllabary is a syllabary invented by Sequoyah in the late 1810s and early 1820s to write the Cherokee language. His creation of the syllabary is particularly noteworthy as he was illiterate until the creation of his syllabary. He ...
.[ An etymological study published in 2012, however, concluded that the name was more likely to have originated from the Latin ''sequi'' (meaning ''to follow'') since the number of seeds per cone in the newly classified genus fell in mathematical sequence with the other four genera in the suborder.][
]John Muir
John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...
wrote of the species in about 1870:
"Do behold the King in his glory, King Sequoia! Behold! Behold! seems all I can say. Some time ago I left all for Sequoia and have been and am at his feet, fasting and praying for light, for is he not the greatest light in the woods, in the world? Where are such columns of sunshine, tangible, accessible, terrestrialized?'
Uses
Wood from mature giant sequoias is highly resistant to decay, but due to being fibrous and brittle, it is generally unsuitable for construction. From the 1880s through the 1920s, logging took place in many groves in spite of marginal commercial returns. The Hume-Bennett Lumber Company
The Hume-Bennett Lumber Company was a logging operation in the Sequoia National Forest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company and its predecessors were known for building the world's longest log flume and the first multiple-arch ...
was the last to harvest giant sequoia, going out of business in 1924. Due to their weight and brittleness, trees would often shatter when they hit the ground, wasting much of the wood. Loggers attempted to cushion the impact by digging trenches and filling them with branches. Still, as little as 50% of the timber is estimated to have made it from groves to the mill. The wood was used mainly for shingles and fence posts, or even for matchsticks.
Pictures of the once majestic trees broken and abandoned in formerly pristine groves, and the thought of the giants put to such modest use, spurred the public outcry that caused most of the groves to be preserved as protected land. The public can visit an example of 1880s clear-cutting at Big Stump Grove near General Grant Grove. As late as the 1980s, some immature trees were logged in Sequoia National Forest
Sequoia National Forest is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The U.S. National Forest is named for the majestic Giant Sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees which populate 38 distinct groves within the boundar ...
, publicity of which helped lead to the creation of Giant Sequoia National Monument
The Giant Sequoia National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the southern Sierra Nevada in eastern central California. It is administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Sequoia National Forest and includes 38 of the 3 ...
.
The wood from immature trees is less brittle, with recent tests on young plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
-grown trees showing it similar to coast redwood wood in quality. This is resulting in some interest in cultivating giant sequoia as a very high-yielding timber crop tree, both in California and also in parts of western Europe, where it may grow more efficiently than coast redwoods. In the northwest United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, some entrepreneurs have also begun growing giant sequoias for Christmas tree
A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...
s. Besides these attempts at tree farming, the principal economic uses for giant sequoia today are tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
and horticulture
Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
.
Threats
Formerly threatened through excess logging, sequoias are now threatened by both a combination of fire and fire suppression
Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts in wild land areas require different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated ...
, along with drought and climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
. Fire suppression caused by European land management practices promotes the excessive growth of smaller trees such as fir, which can dry out in droughts, especially those fueled by climate change, and serve as a fuel load for devastating crown fire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...
s fueled by strong winds, which can kill large amounts of sequoias. One such fire, the Castle Fire
SQF Complex or Sequoia Complex was a complex of two of the August 2020 California lightning wildfires, burning in Sequoia National Forest and adjacent areas. Sparked on August 19, it included the Castle and Shotgun fires. As of January 5, 2021 ...
of 2020, is thought to have wiped out almost 10–14% of the species' whole population, or 7500–10,600 mature trees, including potentially the King Arthur Tree
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
, the 10th tallest known individual. 3 to 5% more, or 2,261–3,637 sequoias, are thought to have died during the KNP Complex and Windy Fire in 2021, with a combined total of 13–19%. The most effective remedy for these impacts is heavy prescribed burning
A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A control ...
, which will need to be multiplied by 30 times current burning practices in order to ensure heathy sequoia groves.
Cultivation
Giant sequoia is a very popular ornamental tree
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...
in many areas. It is successfully grown in most of western and southern Europe, the Pacific Northwest of North America north to southwest British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, the southern United States, southeast Australia, New Zealand and central-southern Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
. It is also grown, though less successfully, in parts of eastern North America.
Trees can withstand temperatures of −31 °C (−25 °F) or colder for short periods of time, provided the ground around the roots is insulated with either heavy snow or mulch. Outside its natural range, the foliage can suffer from damaging windburn.
A wide range of horticultural varieties have been selected, especially in Europe, including blue, compact blue, powder blue, hazel smith, pendulumor weepingvarieties, and grafted
Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the rootstock. The succ ...
cultivars.
France
The tallest giant sequoia ever measured outside of the United States is a specimen planted near Ribeauvillé
Ribeauvillé (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Rappschwihr''; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the de ...
in France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in 1856 and measured in 2014 at a height between and at age 158 years.
United Kingdom
The giant sequoia was first brought into cultivation in Britain in 1853 by the horticulturist Patrick Matthew
Patrick Matthew (20 October 1790 – 8 June 1874) was a Scottish grain merchant, fruit farmer, forester, and landowner, who contributed to the understanding of horticulture, silviculture, and agriculture in general, with a focus on maintaining t ...
of Perthshire
Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...
from seeds sent by his botanist son John in California. A much larger shipment of seed collected from the Calaveras Grove by William Lobb
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
, acting for the Veitch Nursery near Exeter
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
, arrived in England in December 1853; seed from this batch was widely distributed throughout Europe.
Growth in Britain is very fast, with the tallest tree, at Benmore in southwest Scotland, reaching in 2014 at age 150 years, and several others from tall; the stoutest is around in girth and in diameter, in Perthshire. The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew
Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...
in London also contains a large specimen. Biddulph Grange
Biddulph Grange is a National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust landscaped garden, in Biddulph near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It is separate from Biddulph Grange Country Park.
Description
"Beh ...
Garden in Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
holds a fine collection of both ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' and ''Sequoia sempervirens
''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...
'' (coast redwood). The General Sherman of California has a volume of ; by way of comparison, the largest giant sequoias in Great Britain have volumes no greater than , one example being the specimen in the New Forest
The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...
.
''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...
's Award of Garden Merit
The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions.
History
The Award of Garden Merit ...
.
An avenue
Avenue or Avenues may refer to:
Roads
* Avenue (landscape), traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees, in the shifted sense a tree line itself, or some of boulevards (also without trees)
* Avenue Road, Bangalore
* Avenue Road, ...
of 218 giant sequoias was planted in 1865 near the town of Camberley
Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Cambe ...
, Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, England. The trees have since been surrounded by modern real estate development.
Italy
Numerous giant sequoia were planted in Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
from 1860 through 1905. Several regions contain specimens that range from in height. The largest tree is in Roccavione
Roccavione is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about southwest of Cuneo.
Located in the Valle Vermenagna, it is also known as "the Alps
The Alps () ; g ...
, in the Piedmont
it, Piemontese
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
, with a basal circumference of . One notable tree survived a tall flood wave in 1963 that was caused by a landslide at Vajont Dam
The Vajont Dam (or Vaiont Dam) is a disused dam in northern Italy. It is one of the tallest dams in the world, with a height of . It is in the valley of the Vajont River under Monte Toc, in the municipality of Erto e Casso, north of Venice ...
. There are numerous giant sequoia in parks and reserves.
Growth rates in some areas of Europe are remarkable. One young tree in Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
reached tall and trunk diameter in 17 years (Mitchell, 1972).
Northern and Central Europe
Growth further northeast in Europe is limited by winter cold. In Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
, where extreme winters can reach , the largest tree was tall and diameter in 1976 and is bigger today. One in Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
has purportedly survived temperatures down to with heavy snow cover.
Two members of the German Dendrology Society, E. J. Martin and Illa Martin, introduced the giant sequoia into German forestry at the Sequoiafarm Kaldenkirchen in 1952.
Twenty-nine giant sequoias, measuring around in height, grow in Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
's municipality of Lazarevac
Lazarevac ( sr-cyr, Лазаревац, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. , the town has a total population of 25,526 inhabitants, while the municipal area has a total of 58,622 inhabitants.
Its name stems from the name of medieval Ser ...
in Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
.
The oldest ''Sequoiadendron'' in the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, at , grows in Ratměřice u Votic castle garden.
United States and Canada
![4th_and_Olive_sequoia,_Downtown_Seattle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/4th_and_Olive_sequoia%2C_Downtown_Seattle.jpg)
Giant sequoias are grown successfully in the Pacific Northwest and southern US, and less successfully in eastern North America. Giant sequoia cultivation is very successful in the Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
from western Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
north to southwest British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, with fast growth rates. In Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
and Oregon, it is common to find giant sequoias that have been successfully planted in both urban and rural areas.
In Seattle, a sequoia stands as a prominent landmark at the entrance to Seattle's downtown retail core. Other large specimens exceeding are located on the University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
and Seattle University
Seattle University (SeattleU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington. Seattle University is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate prog ...
campuses, in the Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park cemetery, and in the Leschi, Madrona, and Magnolia neighborhoods.
In the northeastern US there has been some limited success in growing the species, but growth is much slower there, and it is prone to ''Cercospora
''Cercospora'' is a genus of ascomycete fungi. Most species have no known sexual stage, and when the sexual stage is identified, it is in the genus ''Mycosphaerella''. Most species of this genus cause plant diseases, and form leaf spots. It is a ...
'' and ''Kabatina'' fungal
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...
diseases due to the hot, humid summer climate there. A tree at Blithewold Gardens, in Bristol, Rhode Island
Bristol is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, US as well as the historic county seat. The town is built on the traditional territories of the Pokanoket Wampanoag. It is a deep water seaport named after Bristol, England.
The population of B ...
, is reported to be tall, reportedly the tallest in the New England states
The ''New England States'' was a passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad and its successor Penn Central over the Water Level Route (predominantly alongside rivers and lake shores) between Chicago and Boston. It was launched in ...
. The tree at the Tyler Arboretum
Tyler Arboretum is a nonprofit arboretum located at 515 Painter Road, Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is open daily except for major holidays; an admission fee is charged to non-members.
The property's history began in ...
in Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the List of counties in Pennsylvan ...
, at may be the tallest in the northeast.[Big Trees Of Pennsylvania: Sequoiadendron – Giant Sequoia](_blank)
pabigtrees.com Specimens also grow in the Arnold Arboretum
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is a botanical research institution and free public park, located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1872, it is the oldest public arboretum in N ...
in Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, (planted 1972, 18 m tall in 1998), at Longwood Gardens
Longwood Gardens is a botanical garden that consists of over 1,077 acres (436 hectares; 4.36 km2) of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, United States in the Brandywine Creek Valley. It is one of the premier h ...
near Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
, in the New Jersey State Botanical Garden at Skylands in Ringwood State Park
Ringwood State Park is a state park in Passaic County in northeastern New Jersey, USA. The Park is located in the heart of the Ramapo Mountains in Ringwood. Its forests are part of the Northeastern coastal forests ecoregion.
It contains ...
, Ringwood, New Jersey
Ringwood is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 11,735, a decline of 493 (−4.0%) from the 2010 census count of 12,228,[Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...]
region of New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. Private plantings of giant sequoias around the Middle Atlantic States are not uncommon, and other publicly accessible specimens can be visited at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. A few trees have been established in Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
as well. Additionally, numerous sequoias have been planted with success in the state of Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
.
A cold-tolerant cultivar 'Hazel Smith' selected in about 1960 is proving more successful in the northeastern US. This clone was the sole survivor of several hundred seedlings grown at a nursery in New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. The U.S. National Arboretum has a specimen grown from a cutting in 1970 that can be seen in the Gotelli Conifer Collection.
Australia
The Ballarat Botanical Gardens
The Ballarat Botanical Gardens Reserve, located on the western shore of picturesque Lake Wendouree, in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, covers an area of 40 hectares which is divided into three distinct zones. The central Botanical Gardens reserve ...
contain a significant collection, many of them about 150 years old. Jubilee Park and the Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve in Daylesford, Cook Park in Orange, New South Wales
Orange is a city in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the state capital, Sydney on a great circle at an altitude of . Orange had an estimated urban population of 40,493 Estimated resident population, 3 ...
and Carisbrook's Deep Creek park in Victoria both have specimens. Jamieson Township in the Victorian high country has two specimens which were planted in the early 1860s.
In Tasmania, specimens can be seen in private and public gardens, as sequoias were popular in the mid-Victorian era. The Westbury Village Green has mature specimens with more in Deloraine. The Tasmanian Arboretum
The Tasmanian Arboretum is a botanical tree park (an arboretum) near Devonport, Tasmania, Australia.
History
The arboretum was incorporated on 16 May 1984. The site originally consisted of 47ha of farmland and remnant forest which was purchas ...
contains both ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' and ''Sequoia sempervirens'' specimens.
The Pialligo Redwood Forest consists of 3,000 surviving redwood specimens, of 122,000 planted, 500 meters east of the Canberra Airport
Canberra Airport is an international airport situated in the District of Majura, Australian Capital Territory serving Australia's capital city, Canberra, as well as the nearby city of Queanbeyan and regional areas of the Australian Capital Te ...
. The forest was laid out by the city's designer Walter Burley Griffin
Walter Burley Griffin (November 24, 1876February 11, 1937) was an American architect and landscape architect. He is known for designing Canberra, Australia's capital city and the New South Wales towns of Griffith, New South Wales, Griffith and ...
, though the city's arborist
An arborist, tree surgeon, or (less commonly) arboriculturist, is a professional in the practice of arboriculture, which is the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants in dendrolo ...
, Thomas Charles Weston, advised against it. The National Arboretum Canberra began a grove of ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' in 2008. They also grow in the abandoned arboretum at Mount Banda Banda
Mount Banda Banda, a mountain of the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, is situated from Sydney within the Willi Willi National Park. Banda Banda can be seen on the north western horizon from Port Macquarie. And seen on th ...
in New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.
New Zealand
Several impressive specimens of Sequoiadendron giganteum can be found in the South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
of New Zealand. Notable examples include a set of trees in a public park of Picton, as well as robust specimens in the public and botanical parks of Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
and Queenstown. There are also several in private gardens in Wanaka. Other locations in Christchurch and nearby include a number of mature trees at the Riccarton Park Racecourse
Riccarton Park Racecourse is the main thoroughbred horse racecourse for the Christchurch city area in New Zealand.
History
The Canterbury Jockey Club was established in 1854 and held its first meeting at Hagley Park in Easter 1855. The Riccarton ...
, three large trees on the roadside bordering private properties on Clyde Road, near Wai-Iti Terrace—these are at least 150 years old. The suburb of ‘Redwood’ is named after a 160 years old Giant Redwood tree in the grounds of a local hotel. At St James Church, Harewood, is a protected very large specimen believed to be about 160 years old. A grove of about sixteen Redwood trees of varying ages is in Sheldon Park in the Belfast, New Zealand
Belfast () is a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is in the north of the city 10 km from Cathedral Square, close to the banks of the Waimakariri River.
History
Belfast is named after Belfast in Northern Ireland. It was originally ...
suburb. Some of these trees are in poor condition because of indifferent care. There is also a very large tree at Rangiora High School
, motto_translation = Enlightenment with Friendship
, location =
, coordinates =
, type = State
, religious_affiliation =
, religion =
, denomination =
, patron ...
, which was planted for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee
The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated on 20 and 21 June 1887 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. It was celebrated with a Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey, and a banquet to which ...
and is thus over 130 years old. Other Giant Redwood trees in Rangiora
Rangiora is the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury, New Zealand. It is north of Christchurch, and is part of the Christchurch metropolitan area. With an estimated population of Rangiora is the 30th largest urba ...
include mature specimens in Victoria Park, Rangiora Borough School and the street opposite, Lilybrook Reserve, and in the carpark of a supermarket in Ivory Street.
The location of a large number of New Zealand Redwoods can be found at https://register.notabletrees.org.nz
Superlatives
Largest by trunk volume
Some sequoias, such as the Mother of the Forest, were undoubtedly far larger than any living tree today. However, as of 2009, the top ten largest giant sequoias sorted by volume of their trunks are:[The volume figures have a low degree of accuracy (at best about ±), due to difficulties in measurement; stem diameter measurements are taken at a few set heights up the trunk, and assume that the trunk is circular in cross-section, and that taper between measurement points is even. The volume measurements also do not take cavities into account. The measurements are trunk-only, and do not include the volume of wood in the branches or roots.]
* The General Sherman tree is estimated to weigh about 2100 tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s.
* The Washington Tree
The Washington tree is a giant sequoia in the Giant Forest Grove in Tulare County, California, within Sequoia National Park. It is named after George Washington, first President of the United States. Until it partially collapsed in January 2005, ...
was previously arguably the second largest tree with a volume of (although the upper half of its trunk was hollow, making the calculated volume debatable), but after losing the hollow upper half of its trunk in January 2005 following a fire, it is no longer of great size.
Tallest
* Redwood – Redwood Mountain Grove –
* tallest outside the United States: specimen near Ribeauvillé
Ribeauvillé (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Rappschwihr''; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the de ...
, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, measured in 2014 at a height between and at age 158 years.
Oldest
* Muir Snag – Converse Basin Grove
Converse Basin Grove is a grove of giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees in the Giant Sequoia National Monument in the Sierra Nevada, in Fresno County, California, 5 miles (8 km) north of General Grant Grove, just outside ...
– more than 3500 years
Greatest girth
* Waterfall Tree – Alder Creek Grove
Alder Creek Grove is a giant sequoia grove located both on private land and within the Giant Sequoia National Monument in the western Sierra Nevada of California. The grove is spread out over approximately of land and contains 483 giant sequoias ...
– – tree with enormous basal buttress on very steep ground.
Greatest base diameter
* Waterfall Tree – Alder Creek Grove
Alder Creek Grove is a giant sequoia grove located both on private land and within the Giant Sequoia National Monument in the western Sierra Nevada of California. The grove is spread out over approximately of land and contains 483 giant sequoias ...
– – tree with enormous basal buttress on very steep ground.
* Tunnel Tree – Atwell Mill Grove
Atwell Mill Grove is a giant sequoia grove in the east fork of the Kaweah watershed area in California. Can be accessed via the Mineral King Road which branches off California State Route 198 below the south entrance to Sequoia National Park.
T ...
– – tree with a huge flared base that has burned all the way through.
Greatest mean diameter at breast height
* General Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General of the United States ...
– General Grant Grove –
Largest limb
* Arm Tree – Atwell Mill, East Fork Grove
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
– in diameter
Thickest bark
* or more
See also
* Mother of the Forest
* General Sherman (tree)
General Sherman is a giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') tree located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in Tulare County, in the U.S. state of California. By volume, it is the largest known living single-stem tree on Earth. It ...
* The House (trees)
* ''Bury Me in Redwood Country
''Bury Me in Redwood Country'' is a 2009 documentary film about the Redwood forest landscape. It is a meditative look at the tallest and largest trees on the planet, offering a reverential perspective that approaches the ecstatic. The film include ...
''
* List of giant sequoia groves
This is a list of giant sequoia groves. All naturally occurring giant sequoia groves are located in the moist, unglaciated ridges and valleys of the western slope of the Sierra Nevada range in California, United States. They can be found at ele ...
* List of largest giant sequoias
The giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') is the world's most massive tree, and arguably the largest living organism on Earth. It is neither the tallest extant species of tree (that distinction belongs to the coast redwood), nor is it the ...
* Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing ...
* Kings Canyon National Park
Kings Canyon National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and renamed to Kings ...
* Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...
* Calaveras Big Trees State Park
Calaveras Big Trees State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving two groves of giant sequoia trees. It is located 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Arnold, California in the middle elevations of the Sierra Nevada. It h ...
* ''Sequoioideae
Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Cupressaceae. It includes the largest and tallest trees in the world.
Description
The three redwood subfamily genera are '' Sequoia'' from coast ...
''
* ''Sequoia sempervirens
''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...
'' – Coast Redwood
* Old growth forest
An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...
* List of superlative trees
The world's superlative trees can be ranked by any factor. Records have been kept for trees with superlative height, trunk diameter or girth, canopy coverage, airspace volume, wood volume, estimated mass, and age.
Tallest
The heights of th ...
Notes
References
Sources
* Listed as Vulnerable (VU A1cd v2.3)
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Further reading
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External links
ARKive: ''Sequoiadendron giganteum''
arkive.org
pinetum.org
* ttp://www.nps.gov/seki/naturescience/fic_abstr21.htm Giant Sequoia Fire History in Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park nps.gov
Save-the-Redwoods League
savethewoods.org
"Sequoias of Yosemite National Park"
1949 by James W. McFarland
Redwoodworld.co.uk
giant redwoods in the U.K.
yosemite.ca.us
* Short radio episod
in which John Muir
John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...
extols "King Sequoia" from ''The Life and Letters of John Muir'', 1924. California Legacy Project
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
*
Conifers Around the World: Sequoiadendron giganteum – Giant Sequoia
Giants of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park
On ''YouTube'' by Sequoia Parks Conservancy
*
{{Authority control
giganteum
Endemic flora of California
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Trees of the Southwestern United States
Trees of the United States
Symbols of California
Garden plants of North America
Ornamental trees
Plants described in 1939