“Grizzly Giant”, Yosemite National Park, California photo courtesy Mike Murphy.
Giant sequoias are the world’s largest trees, they can reach a high of more than 94 m (310 ft)!
But not all are this high. The average height of a sequoia is 50-85 m (160-279 ft) and 6-8 m (20-26 ft) in diameter, with some over 17 m (56 ft) in diameter. They can live thousands of years, the oldest known giant sequoia based on ring count is 3,500 years old.
Sequoia bark is fibrous and may be 90 cm (3.0 ft) thick at the base, providing significant fire protection for the trees. The leaves are evergreen, around 3-6 mm long, and the seed cones are 4-7cm long. It takes between 18 to 20 months for a cone to mature though they typically remain green and closed for up to 20 years. Each cone can have around 230 seeds, which are dark brown, 4-5 mm long and 1 mm broad, with a 1-mm wide.
At any given time, a large tree may be expected to have about 11,000 cones. A mature giant sequoia has been estimated to disperse from 300,000-400,000 seeds per year. The winged seeds may be carried up to 180 m (600 ft) from the parent tree.
Hey There David,
Very interesting, Tulare California lies at the gate of the Sequoia National Park, the home to the world’s largest living thing. The Giant Sequoia trees are as tall as a 25-story building and would fill a city street with their large bases. A day trip to see these giants is a great option for Tulare families.
Catch you again soon!
Giant Sequoias grow along the Sierra Nevada mountain range at an elevation of about 6,000 ft. Giant Sequoias sprout only from seeds. Each year mature trees may produce 2,000 cones that collectively produce half a million seeds so small and light they look like oat flakes. Green, closed, and about the size of the hands at, cones by staying on the tree for over 20 years. After four or five years lichen growth sometimes shuts them so they cannot release their seeds. Flyers, the Douglas squirrel and larvae of a tiny one boring beetle all help the cone to release its seeds. Once that seeds have reached the ground it does not guarantee the beginning of the life of a new Giant Sequoia. The seed must land on fertile ground that is not covered by branches, leaves and other tree litter since the seed can only produce a temperature of 1 in. in length.