(Sequoiadendron)- genus woody plants the Taxodiaceae family (lat. Taxodiaceae), which, without exaggeration, can be called living fossils. This genus has only one species - sequoiadendron giant, or mammoth tree (Sequoiadendron giganteum). Sequoia forests were first discovered by Europeans on the Pacific coast in 1769, and in 1853 the sequoiadendron was described by the famous English botanist D. Lindley, who gave it the name wellingtonia in honor of the English Duke of Wellington, the hero of the Battle of Waterloo. But in 1939, this genus was given the name "sequoiadendron" because the name "wellingtonia" had previously been assigned to another plant.

Softwood heartwood, the wood of which is distinguished by a light red heartwood, medium hardness and good mechanical properties. The high density makes this wood light yet strong, and the combination of oils and resins almost eliminates rot, termite attacks and other insects. It is excellent for construction work, for making fences and tiles, and the thick bark of this tree (30-60 cm) can be used as lining in fruit containers. Precisely because of the high-quality wood, since the time of the first explorers, the predatory extermination of se-voyadendrons began. Today, this endangered species is under protection, therefore, it is mainly excluded from economic use.

In nature, sequoiadendron can only be found in reserves on the western slopes of the California Sierra Nevada, where it grows in the Mariposa Grove forest, located 35 miles from Yosemite Valley. Sequoiadendrons grow in small separate groves (there are about 30 in total) at an altitude of 1500-2000 m above sea level. The remaining trees, and there are only about 500 of them, have been declared protected. The largest sequoiadendrons are proper names: "Father of the Forests", "General Sherman", "General Grant". One of them is the "Giant Grizzly", whose age is 2700 years. This centenarian reaches a height of 65 meters, and the diameter of its base is 9 meters. On the saw cut of another tree, an orchestra and three dozen dancers freely fit. There are also tunnels made in lower parts trunks (for example, in Yosemite Park, such a tunnel has existed since 1881. Cars pass freely through it.
Sequoiadendrons up to 135 m high and about 6000 years old are also known.
Sequoiadendrons, as well as their closest relatives - sequoias, are perfectly adapted to frequent forest fires. Their wood and bark are fire resistant. Black scars on the trunks of large trees testify to past fires. In addition, the reproduction of these plants depends on fires. Tiny seeds require a minimum of soil to germinate, while seedlings need full sun. Fires destroy competing trees and provide fertile ash plus direct access to the sun.

In many countries of the world, the sequoiadendron is bred as an ornamental plant. It looks especially attractive at the age of 80-100 years, when its dark green crown, which starts from the ground, has a regular pyramidal shape. Sequoiadendron also paints reddish bark, scaly needles and small single cones with flat thyroid scales arranged in a spiral. With age, the correctness of the crown is violated, the previously decorative trunk is exposed and thickened, and the tree takes on a monumental appearance.
Sequoiadendron was introduced to Europe in 1853. It has perfectly taken root in the gardens and parks of its southwestern part, especially in Great Britain, where the largest cultivar is located, whose height reaches 45 m.

The seeds of this giant tree came to Russia five years later. Thus, the first sequoiadendrons were planted in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden, and later they appeared on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus and in Central Asia. Despite the fact that in artificial conditions these trees grow more slowly than at home, they also reach quite impressive sizes.

FEATURES OF CULTIVATION, SOIL, LANDING RULES
Since the sequoiadendron is not widely used for landscape construction, the basic rules for caring for it have not been fully developed. Thus, if a gardener decides to purchase a sequoiadendron for landscaping his backyard, he must follow general rules breeding coniferous plants. It should also be noted that sequoiadendron prefers wet warm climate (Maximum temperature in July is 25-29°C).
Most of the groves, which consist of sequoiadendrons, grow on granite residual and alluvial soils. The giant tree prefers well-drained, moist sandy loams with a pH of 5.5 to 7.5. In general, with sufficient humidity of air and soil, the plant is not very demanding on the mechanical composition of the soil.
To plant a sequoiadendron, you should follow the basic rules for planting conifers. Landing pits should be prepared in advance. In heavy soils, drainage from gravel or broken bricks with a layer of 20 cm is required. Before planting, it is recommended to prepare special soil - soddy or leafy soil with the addition of sand or clay. When planting, the root neck should be at ground level. During the first two years after planting, mineral fertilizers in the amount of 30-40 g/cm. If the weather is dry, hot, the plants need to be watered, sprinkling twice a month.

BREEDING
The main method of propagation is by seeds, but can also be propagated by cuttings.
Seeds are sown in spring (April, May) or without prior preparation, or they are soaked in water for 1-2 days (ground germination is 1-2%). By autumn, the seedlings have up to six shoots and reach a height of 8-10 cm, and in the second year of life it grows up to 20-30 cm.

DISEASES AND PESTS
Sequoiadendron is very resistant to diseases and pests, but in the climate of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus it is affected by root rot, and in more northern regions it grows very slowly and is damaged by frost.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Sequoiadendron is recommended for use in single and solitary plantings.

Probably very tall and with a very thick trunk, if that's what it's called, many of us will decide. Few of the inhabitants of Russia saw him. After all, it grows far beyond the ocean, in Central America.

Indeed, the sequoia dendron, or mammoth tree, can be up to 100 meters high with a trunk diameter of up to 10 m. This is hard to imagine. The tree that is higher than itself high house! And how shocked were the Europeans who saw such a forest! It was in 1762 in the south North America, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

The Austrian botanist Stefan Endlicher named the tree Sequoia in honor of the prominent leader of the American Sequoia Iroquois tribe. Now botanists call it sequoia dendron.

This tree lives for a very long time. They call the age of both 3 and 4 thousand years. IN different ages sequoia dendron looks different. young tree, about a hundred years old, looks like a dark green pyramid. The translucent reddish trunk is covered with branches from the very ground to the top. Over time, the trunk becomes exposed and becomes thick, and then becomes gigantic.

It is known that thirty people fit freely on one stump of the Mammoth tree. And in one of the parks of America, a tunnel was punched through its trunk, through which cars pass freely.

Now there are only 500 of these trees left. They are guarded, they are even given their own names, for example, “Father of the Forests”, “General Grant”. Its red-colored wood does not rot, and this was one of the reasons for the destruction of these trees.

The evergreen sequoia is a relative of the dendron sequoia, but it is somewhat smaller. Its wood is highly valued. It is also red in color and does not rot. Mahogany furniture is sequoia furniture.

Sequoia grows very fast, and in America forests are bred from these beautiful trees.

The giant dendron sequoia and the evergreen sequoia differ from each other in the shape of the leaves and the size of the cones. The sequoia leaves are narrow and from a distance it seems that there are needles on the branches. Her branch is more fluffy than that of the Mammoth tree, the leaves of which are more like scales.

Evergreen sequoias have taken root on the shores of the Black Sea, in the Crimea and the Caucasus.

In the autumn of 1912, near the village of Rynie in Scotland, the village doctor W. Mackey, who was also engaged in geology for his own pleasure, made a cut in the rock and suddenly saw perfectly preserved plant remains. On a bare, thin stem sat somewhat elongated balls with thick walls. As it turned out later, it was the oldest plant on Earth. It lived around...

There are seeds that germinate easily and quickly, such as maple, cereals, sunflowers, lettuce, weeds. But in almost all flowering plants, seeds are not able to germinate immediately. In order for them to sprout, they must be placed in special conditions. Legumes and plants from dry areas just need to be soaked before sowing, as they have a hard skin, and put ...

In winter, larch looks like a dried spruce: bare branches, without needles, grayish bark covered with cracks. In spring, the branches of the tree are covered with green needles. Touching them, you are surprised - they are soft, tender, not prickly at all. They turn golden yellow in autumn and fall off in winter. This is the advantage of larch over other conifers. After all, perennial needles are polluted, which makes it difficult for the plant to breathe and ...

The bright yellow flowers of St. John's wort open in mid-summer. It grows in wet places in meadows and swamps, and even just in shallow water along the banks of rivers, and in sands, and on stony placers, and in bushes, and along roads. It can also be found high in the mountains, on alpine meadows. Bright but nectarless flowers...

Mosses, bryophytes, are a special department of the plant kingdom. This higher plants, however, they do not have roots, and one can speak of leaves and stems only conditionally. The largest class of mosses are local stems. They grow everywhere - from the Arctic to the Antarctic. The stems of these mosses are covered with outgrowths-leaves of various shapes. The leaf is sometimes wrapped and accumulates in this microscopic cavity ...

Prickly raspberry bushes are so common that we notice them only at the end of July, when the berries ripen. But pay attention to those shoots on which raspberries ripen. They seem to consist of two parts: a long red stem coming out of the ground, and short green twigs with berries that have grown on it. This red rod grew in the past ...

In Asia and the Mediterranean, the fig tree is the most common plant. It gives people the most valuable food product - figs. It is also called a fig or a fig. There is a lot of sugar in the fig, there are also vitamins A, B1, B2, C. In the Bible, an ancient religious book, the fig tree is a symbol of fertility. From one tree, from 20 to 100 kg of fruits are harvested. Fig tree…

Look at the peanut pod. It is very similar to a pea and bean pod. And applies peanut, or peanuts, to the same family - legumes. Both the bush and the peanut flowers remind us of a very familiar plant - peas. But that's where the similarity ends. A peanut flower on a long pedicel emerges from an axil at the base of a leaf petiole attached…

We know that there is such a fragrant, with a specific aftertaste variety of apples - anise, that there are anise tinctures, liqueurs and anise caramel. But what kind of plant is this - anise, perhaps few people know. Anise, or star anise, is a shrub or not tall tree with fragrant, fragrant leathery leaves. Both the leaves and the bark of the star anise secrete a secret, thanks to which ...

Evergreen laurel - this is what botanists call this low evergreen tree or bush. It has beautiful, fragrant leaves covered with a dense shiny skin. IN Ancient Greece laurel was considered a sacred plant and was planted near temples dedicated to the god Apollo. Laurel was sung by poets. Heroes, victorious warriors, poets, emperors were crowned with a wreath of its leaves. ancient greek myth says that the most beautiful of ...

SEQUOYADENDRON GIANT(Sequoiadendron giganteum) also called the mammoth tree because of its gigantic size and resemblance its huge hanging branches with mammoth tusks is undoubtedly the most famous representative.

The giant sequoiadendron is found in separate small groves (there are about 30 of them) only on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in California (at an altitude of 1500-2000 m). The giant sequoiadendron was described in 1853. After the discovery of the Mammoth tree by Europeans, its name changed several times.


The giant sequoiadendron caught the imagination of the inhabitants of the Old World, and it is given names the greatest people. So, the famous English botanist D. Lindley, who first described this plant, calls it wellingtonia in honor of the Englishman Duke of Wellington, the hero of the Battle of Waterloo.

The Americans, in turn, proposed the name Washingtonia (or Washington Sequoia), in honor of the first US President D. Washington. But since the names Washingtonia and Wellingtonia had already been previously assigned to other plants, in 1939 this genus was named Sequoiadendron.

The giant sequoiadendron is an unusually majestic and monumental tree, reaching a height of 80-100 m, with a trunk up to 10 m in diameter, distinguished by amazing longevity. The question of the limiting age of the sequoiadendron still remains unresolved: they call both 3 and 4 thousand years.
Because of the durable, rot-resistant wood, sequoiadendrons have been rapaciously exterminated in their homeland since the time of the first explorers and gold seekers. The remaining trees, and there are only about 500 of them, have been declared protected.

The largest sequoiadendrons have their own names: "Father of the Forests", "General Sherman", "General Grant" and others. The first of them, which no longer exists, reached, as is clear from its descriptions, a height of 135 m with a trunk diameter at the base of 12 m.


It is estimated that the Sequoiadendron, known as "General Sherman", contains about 1500 m3 of wood, with a height of 83 m and a trunk diameter of 11 m at the base of the tree.

To transport it would require a train of 20-25 wagons. On the saw cut of another tree, an orchestra and three dozen dancers freely fit. There are also known tunnels made in the lower parts of the trunks (for example, in Yosemite Park, such a tunnel has existed since 1881). Cars pass freely through it.


Sequoiadendron as an ornamental plant is bred in many countries of the world. It is especially good at the age of 80-100 years with a dark green, correctly pyramidal crown starting from the ground and a translucent reddish trunk. With age, the correctness of the crown is violated, the trunk becomes bare and thickens, and the tree takes on a monumental appearance.


Having been introduced to Europe as early as 1853, the sequoiadendron has perfectly taken root in the parks and gardens of its southwestern part. Its seeds came to our country in 1858. The first trees were planted in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden, then on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus and in Central Asia.


And although they grow more slowly under these conditions than at home, they reach quite impressive sizes. So, seventy-year-old specimens grow to a height of 30 m or more (with a diameter of more than 1 m). Unlike sequoia (“mahogany”), Sequoiadendron is also called “mahogany from the Sierra”.
(с) http://www.floranimal.ru/pages/flora/s/5581.html

Because of the durable, rot-resistant wood, sequoiadendrons have been rapaciously exterminated in their homeland since the time of the first explorers and gold seekers.


The remaining trees, and there are only about 500 of them, have been declared protected. The largest sequoiadendrons have their own names: "Father of the Forests", "General Sherman", "General Grant" and others.

The first of these, now defunct, reached, as is clear from his descriptions, a height of 135 m with a trunk diameter of 12 m at the base. a height of 83 m and a trunk diameter at the base of the tree, equal to 11 m. To transport it, a train of 20-25 wagons would be required.

John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt in the National Park

Sequoia- the second of the oldest national natural parks in the United States. It was established on September 25, 1890 to protect sequoiadendrons in the Giant Forest, including the General Sherman Tree, currently the largest tree in the world. Sequoiadendron also grows in the Mineral King Valley and Mt. Whitney - most high mountains USA outside of Alaska.

A small part of what is now Kings Canyon National Park was named General Grant National Park in 1890. In 1940, the boundaries of the park expanded significantly, including the territory of the "South Fork of the Kings River" and more than 456 thousand acres of wild territory.


The total size of the national park, including Sequoia Park, now stands at just under 900,000 acres.

People came to the forests of giant sequoias shortly after the end of the civil war. The General Grant tree was discovered in 1862 by Joseph Hardin Thomas and named after Lucretia Baker in 1867.

Five years later, on March 1, 1872, Ulysses Simpson Grant, the eighteenth President of the United States, approved a bill establishing Yellowstone's status as the world's first national park. Grant's Giant (Mammoth) Seiquoia Grove, as well as Yosemite Park, were approved by the same law.

From the history of the park


Captain Charles Young, Military Chief, national park Sequoia, 1903
by Wm. C. Tweed


The new military leader arrived in Sequoia National Park in the summer of 1903 and immediately encountered many difficulties. Born in Kentucky during the Civil War, Charles Young was black, which was not welcome there.


He was the first African American to graduate high school for whites in Ripley, Ohio, and took part in a serious competition, as a result of winning which he was able to enter the famous military school at West Point in 1884.


He was courageous and strong man and became the third black to be educated in this prestigious educational institution. The conditions of this training were so harsh for him that he later wrote about what was the biggest test of his life.


In May 1903, Sequoia National Park was already thirteen years old, but still underdeveloped and inaccessible. From 1891, the management and development of the park was placed under the responsibility of the US Army, but due to lack of funding by Congress, almost nothing was done and much was stolen. The main thing is that it had roads, the construction of which began only in 1900. But the work was carried out so slowly that in three years of work only 5 miles were laid.


Young immediately set to work laying new roads and widening old ones that even small wagons could not drive on. Soon the road ran to the rock Moreau.
In 1904 Young was sent as a military attache to Haiti. He later served in the same position in Liberia.
Young took part in the Expedition to Mexico in 1916. He died in 1923 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full honors.


Although Colonel Charles Young served in the Park for only one working season, his efforts were not forgotten. He is remembered for his energy, perseverance and dignity. Expensive ones built under his direction, improved only a little, are still in service.

Walter Fry: Famous Man
Malinee Crapsey
(This article first appeared in The Sequoia Bark magazine in the summer of 1994)


"When I first met Judge Fry, under his own great old trees, I knew I had met a rare man..."


In 1888, Walter Fry first encountered giant sequoias as a lumberjack and was shocked. After spending more than five days with a team of lumberjacks to cut down and fell down a single tree, he counted the annual layers on the trunk of a fallen giant.

He had to count several days and the answer was amazing: 3266 rings, that is, 3266 years of life.

Two years later locals petitioned the US government to take the great seikwai under state protection. The third signature on the petition was that of Walter Fry.

President Grant

The Park Authority moved the Fry family over the course of several years from the San Joaquin Valley to Trois Rivières. Fry acted as road dispatcher, and in 1905 he became a park ranger. By 1910, Fry had become a ranger chief, managing the parks for the military leadership.
In 1914, the Army finally withdrew from leadership of the Park and Fpai was appointed its official civilian leader.

Fry's contribution to the development and improvement of the Park was so significant that in 1994 the Lodgepole Nature Center was named after him.

Giant Sequoia

In the world sequoias grow in vivo only on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, most commonly between 5,000 and 7,000 feet.


There are no more than 75 groves in total.
General Sherman's tree is between 2300 and 2700 years old. Its largest branch is almost seven feet in diameter.

Sequoias grow from seeds so small and light they look like oatmeal flakes.

Take a closer look - small scarlet men are located on the branches of the giant.

Translated independently from http://www.sequoia.national-park.com/info.htm#tree

Ten biggest giants:

Tree.................................. ......Location..... .........Height(ft) Circum(ft)
1. General Sherman...........Giant Forest........274.9........102.6
2. Washington......................Giant Forest........254.7........101.1
3. General Grant ...................Grant Grove ........268.1........107.6
4. President ...............................Giant Forest .......240.9......... 93.0
5. Lincoln................................Giant Forest......255.8..... ....98.3
6. Stagg ...................................Alder Creek ........243.0. .......109.0
7. Genesis..................Mountain Home..257.1.........85.3
8. Boole .................................Convert se Basin..268.8....... .113.0
9. Ishi ...........................Giant Kennedy.....248.1 ........105.1
10. Franklin......................Giant Forest........223.8........ 94.8

From pre-park history:

To date, there has been debate among historians as to who was the first European to see Yosemite Valley. In the autumn of 1833, Joseph Reddeford Walker, perhaps the first to see the valley - in his subsequent records, he said that he led a group of hunters that crossed the Sierra Nevada and came close to the edge of the valley, which went down "more than a mile." His party was also the first to be in Tuolomni's grove of sequoiadendron trees, thus becoming the first non-locals to see these giant trees.

Part of the territory of the Sierra Nevada, where the park is located, has long been considered the border of the settlements of Europeans, traders, hunters and travelers. However, this status changed in 1848 with the discovery of gold deposits at the foot of the mountains in the west. Since that moment, trading activity in this territory has increased dramatically, as a result, provoking the California gold rush. The visitors began to destroy Natural resources, due to which the Indian tribes lived.


The first authentically known white man who saw the valley should be considered William P. Abrams, who on October 18, 1849, with his detachment accurately described some of the landmarks of the valley, but it is not known for sure whether he or any of his detachment entered the this land. However, there is no doubt that in 1850 Joseph Screech actually descended into the Hetch Hetchy valley and, moreover, settled here.

The first systematic survey of the park area was carried out in 1855 by the team of Allexey W. Von Schmidt as part of the state program land surveys "Public Land Survey System".

Mariposa Wars

Before the first Europeans appeared in this territory, the Sierra Miwok and Paiute Indian tribes lived here. By the time the first settlers came here, Yosemite Valley was inhabited by a group of Indians who called themselves the Avanichi (Ahwahnechee).


As a result of a sharp increase in the flow of immigrants during the gold rush, armed conflicts began to arise with local tribes. To put an end to the constant skirmishes, in 1851, government troops were sent to the valley - the Mariposa battalion under the command of Major James Savage in order to pursue about 200 Avanichi Indians, led by the leader Tenaya. In particular, the doctor Lafayette Bunnell was attached to the detachment, who later vividly described his impressions of what he saw in the book The Discovery of the Yosemite. Bunnell is also credited with the authorship of the name of the valley, which he gave after a conversation with the leader of Tenai.


Bunnell wrote in his book that Chief Tenai was the founder of the Pai-Ute colony of the Ah-wah-ne tribe. The Indians of the neighboring Sierra Miwok tribe (like most of the white residents who settled here) described the Avanichi Indians as a warlike tribe with which they had constant territorial disputes, the name of this tribe "yohhe'meti" literally means "they are murderers." Correspondence and notes written by the soldiers of the battalion contributed to the popularization of the valley and its surrounding area.

Tenaya and the remnants of Avanichi were taken prisoner, and their settlement was burned. The tribe was forcibly transferred to a reservation near Fresno, California. Some were subsequently allowed to return to the valley, but after an attack on eight miners in 1852, they fled to the neighboring Mono tribe, who broke their hospitality and killed them.
(c) Weinheim

Sem. taxodiaceae
Sequoiadendron giganteum

Sequoiadendron giant or mammoth tree- a gigantic evergreen coniferous tree of gigantic size, which has an outward resemblance to its huge hanging branches with mammoth tusks. The tallest tree in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden.

His homeland is the Western slopes of the Sierra Nevada and warm California. And there, at home, it's huge evergreen tree reaches 80–100 m height, since the sequoiadendron is a very durable breed (it can live up to 5 thousand years). In the Nikitsky Botanical Garden, the size of these giants is much more modest than in their homeland, but, nevertheless, the tallest tree in the Garden, reaching 38 meters in height, is precisely the giant sequoiadendron, planted on the territory of the Upper Park in 1885. The diameter of the trunk of this mighty tree is about 2 meters.

This monumental tree has a regular wide-pyramidal crown. Branching in young trees is very dense, in old trees the trunk is cleared of branches to a height of up to 50 m. The bark is red-brown, in deep cracks, separated by plates. The needles are rough, hard, dark green with gray tint. Cones are small (5–8 cm), oblong-ovate. Ripens by the end of the 2nd year.

The breed is slow growing, especially in the first 10–15 years. Quite frost-resistant - tolerates short-term temperature drops to - 24–25°С. He likes loose, deep, fresh soils, but even here, in the Crimea, he feels good on calcareous soils.

The wood is soft and not as valuable as evergreen sequoia. However, it also does not burn in fire.

The dryness of the Crimean summer air "taught" the tree in especially hot years to partially shed its branches, trying to reduce the area of ​​moisture evaporation. Funnel-shaped depressions along the entire trunk are traces of such “undressing”.

Sequoiadendrons were discovered relatively recently, since the mountain slopes of the ridge were inaccessible and only in 1850 English traveler Lubb found the world's largest trees. First these huge trees were called "California pines" or "mammoth trees", and later they began to use the designation of the Indians: the word "sequoia" is simply the name of this tree in the language of the Indians, but one of the Indian leaders of the Iroquois tribe, the inventor of Indian writing, had the same name.

in Nikitsky botanical garden - s 1858.

The ancestors of mammoth trees lived on Earth 100 million years ago. Old specimens growing in protected groves of California are listed in State Register by name: "Thick Tree", "Three Sisters", "Pioneer's Hut", etc. In 1881, in Yosemite Park, while laying a road, they had to make a tunnel in one sequoiadendron, through which buses pass freely.

At the end of the last century, a lightning strike split the trunk of a tree at the base and it collapsed under its own weight. The weight of this trunk is more than 1000 tons. Stump diameter 23 m was named "Father of the Forest". In 1910, a room was cut out inside the stump and a cozy restaurant was placed in it. A spiral staircase around the stump allows you to climb to the top, where in the summer a quartet plays country melodies, 16 couples dance freely and there is enough space for 20 spectators around the perimeter.

When I. Ilf and E. Petrov, invited to America, visited Sequoia Park (occupies the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada), they wrote: “... we drove along the ancient dark forest, a fantastic forest, where the word "man" ceases to sound proud, and only one word "-" "tree ..." proudly sounds, I wanted to imagine that these trees grew peacefully when not only Columbus, but also Caesar and Alexander the Great were not in the world , and even the Egyptian king Tutankhamen ... ".

Currently, in their homeland, in California, there are no sequoiadendron trees older than 2 thousand years. But according to scientists, they can live up to 6-7 thousand years.

SEKVOIA (Sequoia) - a genus of evergreens coniferous trees the Taxodiaceae family. According to one of the classification systems, the Taxodiaceae family belongs to the subclass of Conifers (Pinidae or Coniferae), which, in turn, is included in the class Conifers or Pinopsida (Pinopsida), belonging to the Gymnospermae department.

The only species of the genus - evergreen sequoia, or red (S. sempervirens) - is considered a symbol of the US state of California, it is one of the tallest and longest-lived trees on Earth, also famous for its beautiful, straight-layered and decay-resistant wood.

The height of the evergreen sequoia is about 90 m, and the record one is 113 m. It is noted in national park Redwood in California. The diameter of the trunk reaches 6–11 m and can increase by 2.5 cm per year. The sequoia has the most valuable wood among taxodies with a red core and pale yellow or white sapwood (sapwood is the layers of wood located between the core and the cambium). The bark of the tree is thick, reddish, deeply furrowed. The quality of wood varies not only depending on the place of growth, but also within the same trunk. The crown is narrow, starting above the lower third of the trunk. Oval buds and short shoots with a flat and bluish-gray needles give the sequoia beauty and splendor. The root system is formed by lateral roots that go deep into the soil.

The evergreen sequoia is one of the longest-lived plants on Earth: its age is more than 2000 years (the oldest known tree is about 2200 years old). Maturity occurs at 400-500 years.

The reproductive organs of sequoias (like all conifers) are strobili - modified shortened shoots bearing special leaves - sporophylls, on which spore-forming organs - sporangia are formed. There are male strobiles (they are called microstrobils) and female (megastrobils). Sequoia is a monoecious plant (microstrobils and megastrobils develop on the same tree). Microstrobili are solitary, they are placed on the tops of the shoots or in the axils of the leaves. Megastrobili are collected in small oval-shaped single cones. One of the features of the sequoia is the ability to produce abundant shoots that do not differ in growth rate and life expectancy from seedlings grown from seeds. Sequoia forests in America consist mainly of trees grown in this way.

At the end of the Cretaceous and in the Tertiary period, the evergreen sequoia, along with other representatives of taxodiaceae, was widespread in the northern hemisphere, but now the remains of forests with its participation have been preserved only in a limited area of ​​western North America, namely, on a narrow strip of the Pacific coast from Monterey County to northern California to the Chetco River in southern Oregon. The length of this strip is about 720 km, it is located at an altitude of 600 to 900 m above sea level. Sequoia evergreen needs a lot humid climate, therefore, it does not go further than 32–48 km from the coast, remaining in the zone of influence of humid sea air.

For the first time, sequoia forests were discovered by Europeans on the Pacific coast in 1769. By the color of the wood, the sequoia then got its name “mahogany” (Redwood), which has survived to this day. In 1847, the Austrian botanist Stefan Endlicher singled out these plants as an independent genus and gave him the name "sequoia" in honor of the Sequoia (Sequoyah, 1770-1843), an outstanding leader of the Iroquois, who invented the alphabet of the Cherokee tribe.

Because of the beautiful wood and fast growth, sequoia is specially grown in forestry. Light, dense, not subject to rotting and insect attacks, sequoia wood is widely used as a building and joinery material, goes to the manufacture of furniture, sleepers, telegraph poles, railway cars, paper and tiles. The absence of odor allows it to be used in tobacco and Food Industry. Boxes and boxes for cigars and tobacco, barrels for storing honey and molasses are made from it. Because of the beautiful wood and fast growth, sequoia is specially grown in forestry. Sequoia is used and how ornamental plant, breeding it for this in gardens and parks.

Two other species are close to the evergreen sequoia, each of which is also the only representative of its genus. The first species is the giant sequoiadendron or mammoth tree (Sequoiadendron giganteum); the second species is the glyptostrobus metasequoia (Metasequoia glyptostroboides).

The giant sequoiadendron or mammoth tree was named so because of the gigantic size and outward resemblance of its huge hanging branches to mammoth tusks. The evergreen sequoia and the giant sequoia are similar in appearance, but differ from each other in the shape of the leaves, the size of the cones, and a number of other features.

Like the evergreen sequoia, the giant sequoia was widespread in the northern hemisphere at the end of the Cretaceous and in the Tertiary, now only about 30 small groves have survived, located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in California at an altitude of 1500-2000 m above sea level.

The giant sequoiadendron was described in 1853, but after that its name changed several times. The appearance of the tree impressed the Europeans so much that they began to assign the names of the greatest people of that time to it. So, the famous English botanist D. Lindley, who first described this plant, called it wellingtonia in honor of the Englishman Duke of Wellington, the hero of the Battle of Waterloo. The Americans, in turn, proposed the name of Washington (or Washington Sequoia) in honor of the first US President D. Washington, who led the liberation movement against the British. But since the names washingtonia and wellingtonia had already been assigned to other plants, in 1939 this plant received its current name.

The giant sequoiadendron is an unusually majestic and monumental tree, reaching a height of 80-100 m with a trunk diameter of up to 10-12 m. It is distinguished by longevity and can probably live up to 3 or even 4 thousand years.

Because of the durable, rot-resistant wood, sequoiadendrons have been rapaciously exterminated in their homeland since the time of the first explorers. The remaining old trees (and there are only about 500 of them) are declared protected. The largest sequoiadendrons have their own names: "Father of the Forests", "General Sherman", "General Grant" and others. These trees are real giants. flora. It is known, for example, that an orchestra and three dozen dancers freely fit on the saw cut of one of them, and cars pass through the tunnels made in the lower parts of the trunks of some other trees. The weight of one of the largest of these trees - "General Sherman" - is about 2,995,796 kg.

Sequoiadendron as an ornamental plant is bred in many countries of the world, for example, it has perfectly taken root in the parks and gardens of the southwestern part of Europe, where it was introduced back in the middle of the 19th century.

Sequoiadendrons are used not only for decorative purposes. The rotting wood of the sequoiadendron is used in construction work, for the manufacture of tiles and fences. The thick bark of the tree (30–60 cm) is used as spacers in fruit containers.