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Sequoia Tree

Sequoiandendran Giganteum: Famous As a Name Sequoia

Sequoia is a giant tree. There are some wonders on our Earth. We know some of the huge terrestrial animals like elephant and aquatic animals like whale. We know these animals but there are huge trees also that we cannot imagine. Amongst those I shall share with you about a giant tree Sequoia.

Sequoia Tree
Sequoia Tree California

Types of Sequoia

There are two types of Sequoia-

  • Sequoiandendran giganteum and
  • Sequoia sempervirens.

Sequoiandendran giganteum is famous as a name Sequoia.

Occurrence of Sequoia

The giant Sequoia is usually found in a humid climate characterized by dry summers and snowy winters. Sequoia occurs naturally only in grooves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

These trees typically require large amounts of water and are therefore often concentrated near streams. The giant Sequoia was well known to Native American Tribes living in its area.

Amongst the top 10 largest giant Sequoia, all located within California.

Many trees are protected in

  1. Sequoia National Park in the Southern Sierra Nevada. The park is famous for its giant Sequoia trees including the General Sherman tree, one of the largest trees on the Earth. The General Sherman tree grows in the giant forest which contains 5 out of the 10 largest trees in the world.
  2. Kings Canyon National Parks and
  3. Giant Sequoia National Monument, located in the Southern Sierra Nevada in Eastern Central California includes 38 of the 39 giant Sequoia grooves that are located in the Sequoia National Forest, about half of the Sequoia grooves currently in existence.

Features of Sequoia

We shall discuss about features of this tree.

  • These are the world’s largest trees by volume. They grow to an average height of 160 to 279 feet and 20 to 26 feet in diameter. The oldest known giant Sequoia is 3500 years old. The bark of Sequoia is fibrous, furrowed and may be 3 feet thick at the base of the columnar trunk. It provides significant fire protection for the trees.
  • The leaves are evergreen, awl-shaped, 3 to 6 mm long and arranged spirally along the shoots.
  • Seeds are only able to grow successfully in mineral soils in full sunlight, free from competing vegetation.
  • The seed cones are 4 to 7 cm long and mature in 18 to 20 months giving an average of 230 seeds per cone. The seed is dark brown, 4to 5 mm long and 1 mm broad with 1mm wide, yellow brown wing along each side. Some seeds are shed when the cone scales shrink. Each cone has 30 to 50 spirally arranged scales with several seeds during hot weather and hot summer but most are liberated when the cone dries from fire heat or is damaged by insects.
  • This tree regenerates by seed Giant Sequoias of all ages may sprout from their boles when old branches are lost to fire or breakage. Trees about 20 years old may produce stump sprout subsequent to injury but mature trees do not sprout from cut stumps. Young trees start to bear cones at the age of 12 years. A mature giant Sequoia has been estimated to disperse 300,000 to 400,000 seeds per year. The winged seed may be carried up to 600 feet from the parent tree.
  • Wood from mature giant sequoia is highly resistant to decay but due to being fibrous and brittle, it is generally unsuitable for construction.

Image source- https://pixabay.com/en/sequoia-trees-sequoia-california-3743/