Some of the most amazing trees on our planet are sequoias. These majestic giants have been growing tall and wide for thousands of years and today are the tallest plants in the world

Giant sequoias are a subspecies of cypress. The sight of these huge trees, whose trunks and crowns go tens of meters into the air, involuntarily evokes admiration...

The oldest currently known sequoias are more than 3.5 thousand years old.

The average height of trees is about 60 meters, but there are also entire groves over 90 meters high. Today, about fifty sequoias are known whose height exceeds the 105-meter mark

The tallest currently known tree on our planet is the Hyperion sequoia, which grows in national park Redwood near San Francisco. The height of this giant is 115.5 meters

There is an interesting subspecies of sequoias - sequoiadendrons, characterized by a smaller height but a larger diameter of trunks. The most voluminous sequoia in the world belongs to this subspecies, the 83.8-meter General Sherman, whose base diameter is 11.1 meters and trunk girth is 31.3 meters. The volume of the tree is 1487 m3

Thanks to the colossal area of ​​trunks, even small cafes and dance floors were set up on the logs of fallen trees.

It is usually difficult to imagine the real scale from a photograph, so I specifically found several photographs in which there are people - to make it easier to compare sizes)

Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl. - Sequoia evergreen, or Red sequoia.

Encyclopedic YouTube

1 / 1

✪ 10 tallest trees on the planet. Sequoia Evergreen.

Subtitles

Name

The generic name was proposed by the Austrian botanist Stefan Endlicher in 1847 for the tree formerly known as Taxodium sempervivens D. Don, Endlicher did not indicate its origin. In 1854, Asa Gray, who recognized the need to distinguish the genus, wrote about the new name as “meaningless and discordant.” In 1858, George Gordon published the etymology of the generic names of a number of genera of coniferous plants proposed by Endlicher, but did not find an explanation for the name “Sequoia”.

In 1868, California State Geologist Josiah Dwight Whitney's Guide to Yosemite The Yosemite Book indicated that the plant was named after Sequoia (George Hess) ( Sequoyah, OK. 1770 - approx. 1843) - chief of the Cherokee Indian tribe, inventor of the Cherokee syllabary (1826) and founder of a newspaper in the Cherokee language. According to Whitney, Endlicher learned about the Indian chief from an article in Country Gentleman, which caught his attention. From subsequent editions The Yosemite Book phrase about the article in Country Gentleman was removed due to its obvious inaccuracy. Endlicher published the title in 1847, died March 28, 1849, and the first issue Country Gentleman was published only on November 4, 1852. IN Country Gentleman It wasn't until January 24, 1856 that an article mentioning Sequoia actually appeared. This article described the tree Sequoia gigantea, and also for the first time it was assumed that it was named after an Indian chief.

In 1860 in the magazine The Gardener's Monthly two articles appeared, in the first of which a certain L. supported the justification of naming the genus of plants after an outstanding Indian leader, and in the second, the editor of the magazine, Thomas Meehan, reported that neither he nor L. no, but it seems quite likely to them.

George Gordon suggested in 1862 that Sequoia derived from lat. sequī - "to follow something", in his opinion, this genus "follows" the genus Taxodium, from which Endlicher isolated it. However, he also isolated the genus Glyptostrobus from the genus Taxodium, and named it completely differently.

It should be noted that in its natural distribution area, sequoia is better known as “redwood” (English Redwood, or Coastal Redwood, or California Redwood), in this area the Redwood and Muir Forest reserves are located; at the same time, plants of the related species Sequoiadendron are known as “giant sequoias”. It is the latter that grow in Sequoia National Park.

Botanical description

Distribution and ecology

It grows in the USA along the Pacific coast on a strip about 750 km long and 8 to 75 km wide from California to southwestern Oregon, and is also grown in the Canadian province of British Columbia, in the southeastern USA from eastern Texas to Maryland, in Hawaii , in New Zealand, Great Britain, Italy, Portugal, South Africa and Mexico. Average heights are 30-750 m above sea level, sometimes trees grow close to the shore, sometimes they climb to a height of up to 920 m. Sequoia loves the humidity that sea air brings with it. The highest and oldest trees grow in gorges and deep ravines, where all year round streams can reach humid air and where fogs occur regularly. Trees growing above the fog layer (above 700 m) are shorter and smaller due to drier, windier and cooler growing conditions.

Data

Trees over 60 m high are very common, many are higher than 90 m.

Evergreen sequoia wood has high strength. It does not rot for a long time and can withstand lateral loads, making it suitable for a variety of purposes, including sawing. Giant sequoia wood is lighter and more fragile, so it is not used as lumber.

It is quite easy to process such wood, however, due to its softness and possible splitting during drilling and shaping, as well as planing and profiling, work must be carried out with great care.

Due to its excellent wood and rapid tree growth, sequoia is specially grown in forestry. Light and dense, it is not subject to rotting and insect attacks. Redwood wood is widely used for both construction and carpentry material. This wood is used to make furniture, sleepers, telegraph poles, railway cars, paper and tiles. The absence of odor makes it possible to use it in the tobacco and food industries. It is used to produce boxes and crates for cigars and tobacco, barrels for storing honey and molasses.

IN Lately The construction of houses from sequoia timber, which is ideal for any wooden buildings, is gaining momentum. This structure will appeal to connoisseurs of comfort and convenience. Houses made from sequoia timber are characterized by high environmental safety, aesthetic appeal and a multifunctional, thoughtful layout.

A huge advantage of this material is the presence of oils in it, which protect the wood from rotting. Products made from Californian sequoia will decorate any room, as it is most popular in the manufacture of furniture.

Due to these qualities, sequoia wood is an ideal material for roofing shingles and exterior finishing of buildings. It is also used for the manufacture of racks and profile products for interior decoration. The wood is used to produce plywood and decorative veneer. The thick bark is used to make fiber boards and filter materials.

Use of sequoia

Biostability and durability make sequoia wood an ideal material for the manufacture of wooden pipes, gutters and trays, tanks, vats, roofing shingles, and for the external cladding of buildings. It is also used on coffins, stands and profile products for interior decoration. The wood is used in the production of plywood. The thick bark serves as raw material for fiber boards and filter materials.

It is easy to work with, but due to its softness and possible splintering, care is required when drilling, chiseling and shaping, as well as planing and profiling. To reduce fiber crushing, it is necessary to sharpen the cutting edges and remove waste in a timely manner.

Sequoia varieties

• Architectural varieties of sequoia are used where appearance must maintain compliance with design requirements long after the project is completed. This quality wood can be supplied either dry or undried. Unsurpassed in beauty and durability, it is best choice for precise and tight assembly of intricate or rigorous design projects.
• Clean Sound(Clear All Heart) - Most best variety. Can be oven dried, air dried or without drying. Careful observance of geometry, absence of defects on the front side.
• Clean(Clear) - Similar in quality to Clear Sound, but may contain some sapwood. Ideal for visible parts of ground structures.
• Yadrovaya B(Heart B) - Contains a limited number of knots and other defects that are unacceptable in premium grades. Used in the same way as Pure Sound.
• Grade B(B Grade) - Similar in characteristics to Sound B, but may contain sapwood. It is used similarly to Clean - for decking, garden structures and other above-ground structures.
• Construction/Deck Sound(Construction Heart / Deck Heart) - All heartwood varieties contain knots. They are recommended for use near the ground surface, as supports, beams and decks.
• Construction/Deck Regular(Construction Common / Deck Common) - Contains knots and a mixture of heartwood and sapwood. Recommended for above-ground structures such as fences, benches or verandas.
• Trading Yadrovaya(Merchantable Heart) - The cheapest of the pure core grades, it tolerates slightly larger and worse knots than construction grades, as well as hairline cracks, small end cracks and a number of manufacturing defects.
• Trading(Merchantable) - Same characteristics as Merchant Sound, but may contain sapwood. Suitable for fences, trellises and other applications not in contact with the ground.
• Garden varieties of sequoia Best suited for outdoor use. Their variable texture and knot pattern allow them to be successfully combined with other natural materials. Garden grades can be supplied dried or dry and are usually supplied as edged timber, ranging from 6 meters in length to short trims used for borders and parapets.

Useful tables

The park is famous throughout the world for its giant sequoias. One of them is the General Sherman Tree - the most a big tree on the ground. This tree grows in the Giant Forest, which also contains five of the ten most big trees in the world by volume of wood. In addition, the Park has a number of other attractions. The most popular of them is Tunnel Log - a small road tunnel cut right in the middle of a fallen road giant sequoia.

Sequoia National Park is located in the southern Sierra Nevada, California. The area of ​​the park is 1635 sq km. It is famous for the fact that on its territory there are the tallest, giant sequoia trees. They got their name in honor of the Cherokee Indian leader Sequoia. The park has mountainous terrain, rising from an altitude of about 400 m above sea level in the foothills, to the top of Mount Whitney, the highest in the contiguous 48 states, at 4,421.1 m. In addition to the unique trees, the Park is also famous for its caves. There are about 250 of them, one of which extends 32 kilometers in length. Only one cave is open to tourists - Crystal, the second largest in the Park.

Fossil samples found give us an idea that redwoods existed back in Jurassic period and occupied vast territories in the Northern Hemisphere. Now they can only be found in California and Southern Oregon. Sequoias feel comfortable here because they love the moisture that sea fogs bring with them. Pacific Ocean. Typically, giant sequoias reach 100 m in height and up to 11 m in diameter. Average duration The life of this huge living organism is 4 thousand years. The bark of trees is thick, fibrous, and resistant to combustion. When touched, the palm seems to sink into the wood, creating unusual sensations.

Established in 1890 for the purpose of protecting forest areas formed by redwood trees. Two types of sequoias grow here: giant and evergreen (mahogany). These are trees of enormous size - more than 100 m in height and up to 10 m in girth, their age reaches 2-4 thousand years.

Sequoias - these giant trees are represented by two species - the evergreen sequoia and the giant sequoia or mammoth tree. Their height reaches up to 100 meters and their diameter up to 10 meters. Redwoods are known for their age - the tree can live up to 4,000 years. The unique combination of age, size and weight of these trees makes them the largest living creatures on Earth today. And this is one of the few trees that has adapted to forest fires. The giant sequoia is second in life expectancy only to bristlecone pines, which are found in the arid Sierra Nevada mountains.

The park's most popular tree is the General Sherman tree, which is located in the Giant Forest. This is the largest tree in the world, its height is 81 meters, its diameter at the base is about 32 meters, and its age is about 3 thousand years. The Forest of Giants contains five of the ten largest trees in the world by timber volume. The forest is connected by the Generals Road to Grant Grove in Kings Canyon National Park, where another attraction of the park is located - the General Grant tree.

Tunnel Log is a small road tunnel cut right in the middle of a giant sequoia tree that has fallen onto the road.

Sequoia is a monotypic genus of woody plants of the Cypress family. The natural range of the genus is the Pacific coast North America. Individual specimens of sequoia reach a height of more than 110 m - these are some of the most tall trees on the ground.

The only species is Sequoia evergreen, or Red Sequoia.

History of origin

Today, scientists have concluded that sequoia appeared on Earth 140 million years ago. This is proven by the found and studied fossils and other geological deposits, on the basis of which it is possible to calculate the approximate period of the appearance of a huge natural creature on Earth.

In ancient times, sequoia spread to territories that are today known as France, Japan and even the New Siberian Islands. giant tree existed already in the Jurassic period, when the planet was inhabited by dinosaurs, and even then forests occupied vast areas in the northern hemisphere. According to experts, 50 million years ago, due to the fact that the temperature on Earth dropped significantly, glacial period. The giant sequoia has stopped spreading across the planet and its range has greatly decreased. After warming, these trees remained at the same stage of development and remained growing in only one region.

The first to discover giant sequoias were the Spaniards, who in 1769 sent an expedition to the area of ​​present-day San Francisco. Mammoth trees got their name - sequoia - from the linguist and botanist S. Endlifer, who was the first to call them “red trees”. Initially, no one knew what to do with these huge centenarians. They were practically not used, this is due to the fact that strong trunks were almost impossible to fell, since neither an ax nor a saw could take them. On top of that, the wood turned out to be absolutely unsuitable for construction, such as pine or other conifers. The giant sequoia forests were even destroyed in 1848. By the time more than half of the trees had already been destroyed, the US authorities decided to begin protecting the amazing creatures of nature.

Description of sequoia

Sequoia - evergreen conifer tree from the cypress family. It grows in height 90 meters (35-story building) and higher, and in width (measured as the diameter of the trunk at the base) up to 7 meters, weighing more than 1000 tons. To transport one such felled tree you will need a train of 60 cars. Sequoias live 2-2.5 thousand years or longer.

The trunk is straight and even, rising like a giant column. The crown has the shape of a wide cone, the branches grow horizontally to the ground or with a slight downward slope. The red rust-colored bark (for this reason, sequoia is sometimes called mahogany) is very thick - up to 30 cm, but light, fibrous, porous, so it absorbs moisture well. The needles grow in bunches, are up to 2.5-3 cm long, and can be of different colors - dark green, with a blue or silver tint. The cones are small, up to 3 cm long, oval in shape. Sequoia is a monoecious plant, which means that male and female cones grow on the same tree.

Sequoia only tolerates cold poorly; at -20°C it can die, although it once survived the ice age...

Sequoia propagation

A mature sequoia tree produces a huge number of seeds, but only a tiny fraction of them germinate successfully, and even those that make it through the ground are forced to fight for their lives. The fact is that young shoots branch along their entire length, but the older they get, the more lower branches they lose. Thus, the tree forms a strong dome that absolutely does not allow daylight to pass through. The giant sequoia forests do not allow anything to grow under this green canopy. Therefore, young shoots have to struggle with low light.

Use of sequoia

High performance characteristics and beautiful appearance allow this wood to be used anywhere: for external and internal work, in construction, furniture, turning industry, for the manufacture of cladding and decorative cladding. In the USA, it is used to make poles and sleepers, various supporting parts, street benches, stairs, finishing panels, window frames, jambs, doors, interior lining of trailers, carriages, yacht cabins, wooden shingles, and paper.