Also known as Sierra Redwood. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Conifer, evergreen tree, fast growing to 100 ft (30 m), 300+ ft (92 m) in wild, dense and pyramidal-oval in youth. The pollen producing male cones are terminal on short shoots. That tree measures 31 metres (101.5 feet) in circumference at its base, is 83 metres (272.4 feet) tall, and has a total estimated weight of 6,167 tons. Giant sequoia specimens are the most massive individual trees in the world. Huge collection, amazing choice, 100+ million high quality, affordable RF and RM images. Giant sequoia, (Sequoiadendron giganteum), also called Sierra redwood, coniferous evergreen tree of the cypress family (Cupressaceae), the largest of all trees in bulk and the most massive living things by volume. No need to register, buy now! The third largest tree by volume is The President, which is also in the Park. The trees are generally pyramidal in shape, with reddish brown fibrous bark that is unusually fire resistant. They were once reputed as the oldest living things, but the largest stumps were examined in tree-ring studies and were found to be less than 4,000 years old (bristlecone pines are older, and a clonal king’s holly plant [Lomatia tasmanica] in Tasmania was found to be more than 43,000 years old). Hundreds of feet above the ground, atop a giant sequoia tree, as many as 2 billion leaves vie for resources. The largest giant sequoia specimen is the General Sherman tree in Sequoia National Park. The giant sequoia is one of my very favorite plants, and those enormous, towering giants are, by some definitions, the most massive living things on the planet (massive, by weight, and not the tallest). The cone buds form during late summer. The largest single specimen of giant sequoia, the General…. Record trees have been measured at 94.8 m (311 ft) tall. The trees are found in scattered groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevadas of California at elevations between 900 and 2,600 metres (3,000 and 8,500 feet). By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. It is the only living member of its genera. Prefers a deep, rich soil with plenty of moisture, but it can withstand drier conditions than, Hardy to USDA Zone 6 Native to California Sierra Nevada Mountains above 4,500 ft. A Giant Sequoia named General Sherman, located in Sequoia National Park, is by volume the largest known living single stem tree on Earth. Corrections? Their leaves are needle like and these trees are conifers. Leaves blue green, scale-like, sharp pointed (awl-shaped), on cord-like branchlets, crowded and overlapping in three longitudinal rows, 3-6 mm long on leaders. Synonyms: Sequoia giganteum, Wellingtonia gigantea Dense, pyramidal or conical form in the landscape to narrow columnar form in dense mature groves. Monoecious - male and female cones on the same tree. Sequoiadendron giganteum: Sequoiadendron for its similarity to the wood of the Sequoia genus, named for the Cherokee silversmith Sequoyah who developed his nation's first writing system; giganteum giant. This is an image of the foliage of the Giant Sequoia. campus, Patrick Breen, Black Friday Sale! The giant sequoia has uniformly scalelike or awl-shaped leaves that lie close against the branches and scaleless winter buds. The giant sequoia is the only species of the genus Sequoiadendron and is distinct from the coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), which are the tallest living trees. Omissions? They are also very long-lived. The General Sherman tree, the world's largest (in bulk) giant sequoia (, …botanical podcast and guessed the giant sequoia. Giant sequoia trees are the giants of the plant kingdom, growing to large dimensions, both in height and volume. CPN (Certified Plant Nerd)Patrick.Breen@oregonstate.edu, College of Agricultural Sciences - Department of Horticulture, USDA Hardiness Zone Maps of the United States, Oregon Master Gardener Training: Identifying Woody Plants, spectacular photograph by National Geographic. Pollination occurs in late winter or spring when the female conelets are only 2-3 times larger than the twigs. Giant sequoia trees towering over a hiking trail that winds through the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park, California. Trunk diameters of 17 m (56 ft) have been claimed via research figures taken out of context. Moreover, the Giant Sequoias are evergreen i.e., they bear their needles all the year long. A single egg-shaped mature reddish-brown cone, 5-9 cm long, yields an average of 200 seeds. Giant sequoia, (Sequoiadendron giganteum), also called Sierra redwood, coniferous evergreen tree of the cypress family (Cupressaceae), the largest of all trees in bulk and the most massive living things by volume.The giant sequoia is the only species of the genus Sequoiadendron and is distinct from the coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), which are the tallest living trees. A few rare giant sequoias have grown taller than 300 feet, but it is the sequoia’s giant girth that sets it apart. The Sequoia trees will have a red bark (Trunk) as the name suggests “Redwoods”! Updates? Between 2014 and 2016, specimens of coast redwoodwere found t… The specimen known to have the greatest diameter at breast height is the General Grant tree at 8.8 m (28.9 ft). Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Leaves blue green, scale-like, sharp pointed (awl-shaped), on cord-like branchlets, crowded and overlapping in three longitudinal rows, 3-6 mm long on leaders. They are usually more than 20 feet in diameter and up to 35 feet across. Although a number of groves of giant sequoias have been cut down, the lumber is more brittle than that of the redwood, and the lower quality of the wood has been instrumental in saving the giant sequoias from destruction. However, fertilization does not occur until summer, by which time the cones are almost full size. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Monoecious - male and female cones on the same tree. She glanced at a giant sequoia that was badly burned but hung on to some of its scale-like leaves high in the sky. Embryos develop during the next summer and reach maturity at the end of the second growing season. They grow to an average height of 50–85 m (164–279 ft) with trunk diameters ranging from 6–8 m (20–26 ft). With the help of the advocacy of American conservationist John Muir, most of the 70 distinct groves are now under the protection of state or national forests or parks, including Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Forest. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/plant/giant-sequoia, University of California - Forest Research and Outreach - Giant Sequoia, LiveScience - Giant Sequoias and Redwoods: The Largest and Tallest Trees, giant sequoia - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), giant sequoia - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). It is shown in total in a. Oregon State Univ. Bark is reddish-brown, fibrous, very thick, spongy, deeply furrowed. For the story of the finding and naming of this tree see, The “discovery” and naming of Sequoiadendron giganteum: plant habit, ~93 years-old, Oregon State Univ.