Everyone has heard about this tree, but few people manage to admire it. Despite its huge popularity, for a number of reasons, its distribution is limited. Sequoia is a tree that belongs to the genus of conifers, the cypress family, the subfamily sequoioideae. Consists of two species: giant and evergreen sequoia. Both of these species grow in North America on the Pacific coast.
Scientists are sure that in the distant past this amazing plant inhabited the entire northern hemisphere of our planet. The tree did not get its modern name right away: the British and Americans tried to immortalize their heroes in it. Then a compromise was reached: it was decided to name the tree in honor of the leader of the Cherokee tribe - Sequoyah, who, ironically, called on his people to fight against both the British and the Americans.
Evergreen and tallest
Today, this plant grows only in a small area in Northern California and Southern Oregon, on a narrow coastal strip. The evergreen sequoia is the tallest tree that exists in our time on Earth. Usually its height ranges from 60 to 90 meters, but there were also specimens taller than 100 m, and one of them even reached 113 meters. Most of them grow in Redwood National Park, on the slopes of the mountains facing the ocean, and foothill valleys.
The trunk of a sequoia has a very thick and fibrous bark. While the plant is young, it branches along the entire length of the trunk, but with age, the lower branches are lost, and only a dense crown forms at the top. The undergrowth in such a forest develops poorly due to lack of lighting. Despite the fact that a mature seed tree produces a lot, only a small part of them germinate, and even this part has a very difficult time - there is not enough sunlight. Due to such slow reproduction, the sequoia (the tree used to be intensively cut down) was on the verge of extinction. Today, the main habitats of this amazing plant are protected, and their barbaric felling has been stopped.
Sequoia National Park
The territory of this huge North American reserve is the main repository of the giant sequoia. This tree is rightfully considered the greatest living organism. In terms of size and life expectancy, it has no equal in nature. The existence of a giant sequoia is calculated not in tens or even hundreds of years, but in millennia - it can live up to 4000 years. The trunk of a tree for such a long period grows to a height of up to 95 meters, and in diameter it grows to10 meters or more. General Sherman - this is the name of the sequoia - a tree (its photo went around the whole world), which has already lived for 4000 years and continues to grow, today its weight is 2995796 kg.
Some interesting facts
The tallest tree growing today is the Stratospheric Giant. It is located in Redwood National Park. In 2002, its height was 112.56 m.
The tallest tree on Earth was the Giant Dyerville. When it collapsed, it was possible to determine that its height was 113.4 m, and it lived for about 1600 years.
Currently, 15 sequoias are over 110 meters tall, and 47 trees are close to 105 meters already. So maybe Dyerville's Giant's record will be broken. It is said that in 1912 a sequoia 115.8 m high was cut down. But this fact has not been proven.
The most voluminous sequoia is a tree named General Sherman. Its volume has already exceeded 1487 cubic meters. m. They say that in 1926 they cut down a tree with a volume of 1794 cubic meters. m. But it is no longer possible to verify this.
