The flora of our planet is amazing and diverse. One of the most interesting is a separate genus of trees, consisting of only one species, represented by an evergreen sequoia.
There are several more names for this plant - red sequoia and evergreen taxium. These representatives of the Taxodiev family are absolute leaders in height not only among conifers, but also in the entire plant kingdom of the Earth. The maximum height of the sequoia is evergreen. What power, what power! Let's talk about this giant, preserved from ancient times.
Sequoia: giant tree
Sequoia is one of three types of trees known under the epithet “mahogany”. This is an evergreen conifer, the life span of which, according to various sources, reaches 3, 000 years, its height is up to 115, and the diameter of its base is 5-6 meters or more. The name "sequoia" is supposedly given to the plant in honor of the leader of the Indian tribe Cherokee - Sequoia, but it is possible that this is only a beautiful legend.
The maximum height of sequoia is evergreen
These trees are real giants. The height to which they stretch is amazing, and it is difficult for people who have never seen them to imagine a plant reaching the roof of a 46-story building. This is truly a unique tree, because even medium-sized specimens in the bulk exceed the sixty-meter mark. Many conifers of this species are able to reach ninety-meter growth, and there are record holders. The maximum height of the evergreen sequoia, called the "Father of the Forests" and, unfortunately, has not been preserved to this day, was 135 meters. The modern leader is Sequoia Hyperion, which reached 115.6 meters in height. No less impressive is the diameter of the base of "Hyperion" - almost 5 meters. The approximate age of the giant is about 800 years.
The leadership of this plant was established in 2006 by American scientists. They said that if the top of the tree had not been damaged by birds, then the maximum height of the evergreen sequoia in meters would have been 115.8 m. There is a giant in California's Redwood National Park, California, and anyone can admire it. In the history of mankind, the largest trunk diameter is also recorded - 7 m, as well as a considerable age, reaching up to 3.5 thousand years.
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So, sequoia is an evergreen monoecious conifer with a conical crown. Tree branches tend to grow horizontally or with a slight downward slope. The bark, which reaches a thickness of 30 cm, has a fibrous, dissected into deep furrows, a relatively soft structure and a terracotta hue, darkening after some time after its removal. It is this property of the bark that gave the name to the species - “mahogany”.
Among all taxodium sequoias, it has the most valuable wood with a pink-red core and cream or white sapwood, i.e., layers between the core and cambium. Surprisingly, the quality of wood in one trunk can vary. The maximum height of the evergreen sequoia, exceeding 110 meters, as a visiting card of the species, indicates the uniqueness of this plant. One tree can produce wood significantly more than 1000 cubic meters.
The narrow crown of the tree, decorated with cones, begins to grow above the third part of the trunk. The root system is formed by strongly spaced lateral roots that go shallow into the ground.
Sequoia is not only a giant, but also a long-liver - one of the longest-living plants on Earth. Her age is more than 2000 years. Young sequoias reach maturity at 400–500 years.
Sequoia reproduction
There are many amazing events in nature. So the sequoia, the great Gulliver of the plant kingdom, grows out of a tiny seed whose length does not exceed half a centimeter. Sequoia propagates by seeds collected in small single oval-shaped cones, and can produce copious growth. Cones of a plant ranging in size from 15 to 30 mm mature in late autumn and contain 3-7 seeds, which fall out when the fruit dries.
A feature of the species is the absence of differences in growth rates and longevity between seedlings grown from seeds and young shoots that occur spontaneously. The maximum height of sequoia evergreen does not change, depending on the method of germination.
Where do giant trees grow?
Once upon a time, at the end of the Cretaceous, these evergreens were distributed throughout the northern hemisphere. Then no one was struck by the maximum height of the sequoia evergreen.
Today, the remnants of the relict forests where it grows have been preserved in the limited space of the west of North America: on a narrow strip of the Pacific coast, stretching from Monterey County in the northern California to the Cretco River in southern Oregon. This strip lasts a little over 700 km, and is located at an altitude of 600 to 900 meters above sea level. A humid climate requires sequoia, so it cannot spread farther from the coast than 30-40 km, and always remains in the zone of influence of sea air, which carries the much-needed water to the plant.
For the first time the concept of “sequoia forests” arose in 1769 when they were discovered on the Pacific coast. Then, by the color of the wood, the plant was called “mahogany”, which has survived to this day. In 1847, Austrian biologist Stefan Endlicher, these plants were isolated in a separate species, a characteristic feature of which was the maximum height of the redwoods evergreen, in meters exceeding 100-110.
