Everyone has heard of this tree, but few manage to admire it. Despite its immense popularity, for several reasons its distribution is limited. Sequoia is a tree that belongs to the coniferous genus, the cypress family, the subfamily sequoioideae. It 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 populated the entire northern hemisphere of our planet. The tree did not immediately get its modern name: the British and Americans tried to immortalize their heroes in it. 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 the British and against 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. Evergreen sequoia is a tree that is the highest of 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 reached even 113 meters. Most of them grows in the Redwood National Park, on the slopes of the mountains facing the ocean, and foothill valleys.
The trunk of the 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 at the top a dense crown is formed. Undergrowth in such a forest is poorly developed due to lack of lighting. Despite the fact that an adult tree of seeds gives a lot, only a small part of them grows, and even this part is very difficult - there is not enough sunlight. Due to such a slow reproduction, sequoia (the tree was previously intensively cut down) was on the verge of extinction. Today, the main places of growth of this amazing plant are taken under protection, and their barbaric cutting is stopped.
Sequoia National Park
The territory of this huge North American reserve is the main repository of a giant sequoia. This tree is rightly considered the greatest living organism. In terms of size and life expectancy, there are no peers in nature. The existence of a giant sequoia is calculated not by tens or even hundreds of years, but by millennia - it can live up to 4000 years. The tree trunk for such a long period grows to a height of 95 meters, and in diameter grows to 10 meters or more. General Sherman - the so-called sequoia - tree (his photo went around the whole world), which has lived for 4, 000 years and continues to grow, today its weight is 2, 995, 796 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 is 113.4 m., He lived for about 1600 years.
Currently, 15 sequoias have a height of more than 110 meters, and 47 trees are already close to the mark of 105 m. So, perhaps, the record of Giant Dyerville will be broken. It is said that in 1912 a sequoia with a height of 115.8 m was cut down. But this fact has not been proved.
The largest sequoia is a tree named General Sherman. Its volume has already exceeded 1487 cubic meters. m. They say that in 1926 a tree was cut down with a volume of 1794 cubic meters. m. But to verify this is no longer possible.
