Redwood

Over a dozen different trees are casually referred to as ‘redwood’, but the name is most frequently used for two species native to the Pacific coast of North America, the Coast Redwood and the Sierra Redwood.

Sequoia sempervirens

Common name: Coast Redwood

Sequoiadendron giganteum

Common name: Giant Sequoia, Sierra Redwood

The Sequoia is a genus in the family Cupressaceae that contains only one species, Sequoia sempervirens. It is the tallest tree in the world and it can live more than 2,000 years. Sequoia sempervirens is found in a narrow strip about 500 miles long and five to 50 miles wide along the California coast, where the unique environment provides heavy annual rainfall, frequent fog, and a biotic community that supports the trees’ nutrient requirements. Fossil records indicate that the genus was once distributed throughout much of Europe and Asia as well as in North America.

Sequoiadendron giganteum is the only species in the genus Sequoiadendron, a member of the family Cupressaceae. Its native habitat is a limited area in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. These are the largest trees in the world as measured by volume. The oldest S. giganteum on record is 3,200 years old.

S. sempervirens are evergreen conifers. The bark is up to 12 inches thick and is quite soft and fibrous. The tree has shallow, wide-spreading roots. The ovoid cones contain winged seeds.

The tallest Sequoia sempervirens on record is Hyperion. This tree, which measures 379.1 feet in height, was recorded in the summer of 2006. The Del Norte Titan has the thickest trunk, with a diameter of 23.687 feet. Only 15 trees in the world, all Sequoiadendron giganteum, have larger trunks.

This tree is formally classified as ‘vulnerable’. Old-growth forests are legally protected, and some second-growth forests are being purchased by conservation groups in the hope that they will develop old-growth characteristics as they mature.

These trees are evergreen conifers. They average 250 feet in height and about 20 feet in diameter. The largest on record is General Sherman, with a height of 274.9 feet, a circumference of 102.6 feet, and an estimate weight of over 2100 tons.

The bark is furrowed and fibrous. It can be as much as two feet thick at the base of the trunk. This extremely thick bark gives the tree significant fire protection.

Seed cones mature in 18 to 20 months, but they typically remain green and closed for extended periods, often as long as twenty years. A large tree usually has about 11,000 cones at a time. Each cone contains an average of 230 winged seeds.

Sequoiadendron giganteum is formally classified as ‘vulnerable’. Reproduction in its natural habitat is limited, although it has been grown successfully in other locations.

Kingdom - Plantae
Division - Pinophyta
Class – Pinopsida
Order - Pinales
Family - Cupressaceae
Genus - Sequoia
Species - Sequoia sempervirens

Kingdom - Plantae
Division - Pinophyta
Class - Pinopsida
Order - Pinales
Family - Cupressaceae
Genus - Sequoiadendron
Species - Sequoiadendron giganteum

Sequoia sempervirens produces winged seeds, but they do not disperse widely and fewer than 20% of them sprout. Seedlings grow quickly, with young trees reaching 65 feet in height in 20 years.

These trees also reproduce readily by layering and by sprouting from the root crown or stump. If a tree falls, it will generate new trees in a straight line along its trunk. Sprouts can reach eight feet tall in a single growing season.

Sequoia sempervirens also reproduce through burls. These are woody lignotubers that commonly appear below the soil, although they can also appear above it. When burls are detached from the parent tree, they sprout clones. These shoot clusters are sometimes cultivated as decorative hedges.

The tree has been cultivated successfully in some areas of Hawaii, in the southeastern United States from eastern Texas to North Carolina in New Zealand, and in western Europe from the British Isles south to Portugal.

These trees reproduce primarily by seed. Seedlings can only grow successfully in full sunlight, free from any competition, in soils with high mineral content. They rarely reproduce in cultivation and are experiencing difficulty in their original habitat.

Low-intensity wildfires once helped Sequoiadendron giganteum reproduce successfully. While the thick bark protected the adult tree from damage, the hot air dried the cones, causing them to open and release seed. The fire destroyed ground vegetation that would have competed with the seedlings, so they could grow.

Cones are sometimes opened by insects. Young trees may sprout when injured, but mature trees do not.

S. sempervirens is a very valuable timber species, and second growth redwood forests are commercially cultivated for timber production. It is valued for its beauty and durability. It is naturally resistant to fire, insect damage, and decay.

This tree is much admired as an ornamental tree. It can be grown in the Pacific Northwest and parts of eastern North America, throughout most of western and southern Europe, and in New Zealand and southeastern Australia.

The wood from mature S. giganteum is very brittle, making it unsuitable for most commercial purposes. The wood from young trees, however, is very similar to that of Sequoia sempervirens, and experiments are being made to grow it commercially.

See Sequoia for an Edwardian opinion of these magnificent trees.

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