Giant sequoia: photo. Where does the giant sequoia grow? Evergreen sequoia (Sequoia sempervirens) Where does sequoia live on the mainland

SEQUOIA– evergreen coniferous pine (monoecious gymnosperm) tree, Cypress family, subfamily – Sequoiaceae, genus – Sequoia.

The name of the genus was given in honor Redwoods (George Hess) (Sequoyah, OK. 1770 - approx. 1843)- Indian tribal leader Cherokee, inventor of the Cherokee syllabary (1826), founder of the Cherokee language newspaper.

Currently genus Sequoia presented in two types:

1.Sequoia evergreen (lat. Sequoia sempervirens), or Red Sequoia, Also - Mahogany.

2. Sequoia giant , or Giant Sequoiadendron(lat. Sequoiadendron giganteum), or mammoth tree , Also - Wellingtonia.

Both of these species are relict, preserved WITHOUT CHANGES since ancient times, and were once distributed throughout the globe.

Fossil samples indicate that these giant trees existed already in Jurassic period, between 208 and 144 million years ago, and then occupied vast territories. They now grow in small regions along the western edge of the North American continent.

Previously there were other related species of redwoods, but they all completely disappeared from the physical plane of the Earth, and at present they are known only from fossilized remains.

A brief description of the two extant species of the genus Sequoia.

grows in the states California And Washington in the USA and in the south of the Canadian province British Columbia along the Pacific coast on a strip about 750 km long and 8 to 75 km wide. Average altitudes - 30-750 m above sea level, sometimes the trees grow close to the shore, sometimes they climb to a height of up to 920 m. Sequoia loves the humidity that the sea air brings with it. It has an increased ability to absorb moisture from the air. The highest and oldest trees grow in gorges and deep ravines, where all year round currents of moist air can reach and where fogs regularly occur. Trees growing above the fog layer (above 700 m) grow shorter and smaller in size due to drier, windier and cooler growing conditions.

A height of 90 or more meters for Sequoia evergreen is common; there are also trees 110-113 m high. A record height of 117 m was noted (scientists believe that the absolute limit of growth is a height of 125-130 m, since due to gravity and friction, the sap they still won’t be able to rise higher from the roots). The thickness of the trunks at the base often reaches 6-7 m or more.

They are by far the tallest trees on Earth and the longest living, along with the Giant Sequoia. Maturity Redwood evergreen occurs in 400-500 years, and specimens aged more than 1500 years(the oldest known - OK. 2200 years).

The size of these forests has now been greatly reduced as a result of active exploitation. Apparently, trees originally covered an area of ​​6,131 square meters. km, but currently there are much fewer of them, and their logging is prohibited in only two protected areas.

The trunk of the Sequoia evergreen is enclosed in a thick, fibrous, low-flammable bark. Young trees branch along their entire length, but with age the lower branches fall off and a closed canopy forms at the top. It practically does not allow light to reach the ground; as a result, the undergrowth is quite poorly developed, since only ferns and other shade-loving plants can grow here along with rare young sequoias. A mature tree produces many seeds, but only a small portion of them germinate successfully, and those that do germinate must struggle with low light. Under natural conditions, such slow reproduction would be quite sufficient, since trees can survive 3000 years, But With more active exploitation of the forest, young trees do not appear quickly enough to compensate for the felling.

Evergreen sequoia is resistant to fires, fungi and other diseases, it is not eaten by bugs and other insects, the wood is very beautiful and resistant to rotting, is in demand and is expensive, so these trees in many unprotected areas are cut down by commercial companies.

As a result artificial plantings of the 19th and 20th centuries., there are small groves of Sequoia evergreen (Mahogany) and its single specimens in Europe and Asia, usually in special botanical gardens and arboretums (Belgium, Crimea, Transcaucasia).

Currently Sequoia evergreen (Mahogany) is protected from deforestation and sabotage in only two small areas in the USA: in the National Park Redwood(Red Forest) and in National Nature Reserve Muir Forest.

National reserve (forest park) Muir Woods is located 19 km north of San Francisco and is part of the park (rest areas)"Golden Gate".

Muir Woods occupies 226 hectares, on 97 hectares of them grows Coast Redwood, literally - coast redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens- lat.), referred to in Russian simply as “ Sequoia«.

Tallest tree in Muir Woods 258 feet ( 79 m). Middle age trees in Muir Woods from 500 to 800 years, the oldest - 1200 years.

One hundred and fifty million years ago, these trees grew throughout the continent. When the loggers arrived in the 19th century, they occupied an area of ​​8,000 sq. km. By the early 20th century, most of these forests had been cleared.



To save the remains of the trees, a local businessman William Kent and his wife Elizabeth bought 247 hectares of land, which had to be flooded during the construction of the dam. The hydraulic engineering company sued him, and then Kent found a way out - he donated 119 hectares of land to the federal government.

January 9, 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt declared these lands a national monument. According to Kent's agreement, the monument was named in honor of the naturalist John Muir, who did a lot to create the system national parks. In 1937, construction of the Golden Gate Bridge was completed, and park attendance tripled, reaching more than 180 thousand people. Now Muir Woods is one of the main tourist attractions in San Francisco, Bay Area (776 thousand visitors in 2005).

Redwood National Park - national park in California, USA.

Created October 2, 1968 when the president Lyndon Johnson signed a decree creating the Redwood National Park with a total area of 23,500 ha. It included three existing state-level redwood parks - Jededee Smith, Del Norte and Prairie Creek. In 1978, Congress decided to expand the national park area by 19,400 hectares.

The park is covered in ancient redwood forests.

Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron, Mammoth tree) It is protected in only one place - Sequoia National Park.

Sequoia National Park(English) Sequoia National Park ) - national park United States, located in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of the city of Visalia in California. The park was founded in 1890 year, the third after Yellowstone and Mackinac National Parks, later abolished. Park area 1,635 km². The park has mountainous terrain, rising from an altitude of about 400 meters above sea level in the foothills to the summit of Mount Whitney, the highest in the contiguous 48 states, at 4,421.1 meters. The park borders Kings Canyon National Park. Both parks are managed US National Park Service as a single unit - Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.

The park is best known for its giant sequoias, including an instance named General Sherman is the most big tree on Earth, if you count by the volume of its wood. In 2009, the volume of wood from this tree was just under 1,500 cubic meters. General Sherman tree growing in Giant forest Giant Forest) , which contains five of the ten most big trees in the world by volume of wood. Giant forest connected dear Generals(English) Generals Highway), With Grant's Grove(English) Grant Grove) in the national park Kings Canyon, where, among other sequoias, grows General Grant tree . Both species of Sequoia grow in this park - Red and Giant, but Giant Sequoia of large ages grows practically only here, with the exception of a few in neighboring National parks and nature reserves (Yosemite and others).

Sequoia National Park in California

The park is famous throughout the world for its giant sequoias. One of them is Tree General Sherman- the largest tree on Earth. This tree grows in Giant Forest, which also contains five of the ten largest trees in the world by timber volume.

General Sherman

D General Sherman tree (General Sherman tree) in the Forest of Giants - the most popular tree in the park. It really is largest tree in the world by volume, although not the highest, but one of the highest. Its height 81 meters, the diameter at the base is about 32 meters, and the age is about 3 thousand years.

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 giant sequoia that fell onto the road.

Besides 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.

The fossil specimens found give us an idea that giant sequoias existed back in the Jurassic period and occupied vast areas in the Northern Hemisphere. Now they can only be found in California and Southern Oregon. Typically, giant sequoias reach a height of 100 m, in diameter up to 11 m. Average life expectancy this huge living organism 2- 4 thousand years. The bark of trees is thick, fibrous, non-flammable. When you touch it, your palm seems to sink into the wood, creating unusual sensations.

The park was established in 1890 in order to protect forest areas formed by sequoias. They grow here two types of sequoias: sequoiadendron giant (mammoth tree) And sequoia evergreen (mahogany). Both of them are trees of enormous size - 90-100 or more m in height and up to 10-11 m in girth, their age reaches 4 thousand years.


The unique combination of age, size and weight of these trees makes them the largest trees and longest living creatures present on planet 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 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.

Sequoia National Park is attractive with mountain landscapes, beautiful waterfalls and alpine meadows. The park is home to many species of animals, including moose, black bear, white-tailed deer, coyote, and bobcat.

Many thousands of years ago most of The Earth's territories were covered with forests huge trees and plants. Research has shown that giant trees existed 200-150 million years ago, during the Jurassic period.

Since the time of dinosaurs, giant and evergreen sequoias have survived to this day. Evergreen sequoia Sequoia Sempervirens- the largest tree on our planet. The usual height of a sequoia is about 90 meters, but some specimens reach more than 100 meters in height. The sequoia is a long-lived tree and can live for 3,000 years.

Sequoia wood is valuable because neither fungi nor insects take it.

The largest sequoia is named "General Sherman". The height of the tree is almost 84 meters. This tree is about 2300-2700 years old, scientists cannot determine the exact age, because the age of the tree can only be determined by the rings by sawing it. The General Sherman is the largest tree on Earth by wood volume. The volume of the trunk is estimated at 1487 cubic meters. The weight of the giant reached 1910 tons.

Sequoia "General Sherman" is considered the largest of those currently growing, its height is almost 84 meters, and its age is 2300-2700 years

In 2006, the most tall sequoia - "Hyperion". The height of the tree has reached 115,5 meters. But the growth of the tree was slowed down by woodpeckers, who damaged the very top of the tree. According to researchers, the age of the tree is 700-800 years.

Biologists use special cables to climb Hyperion, the tallest sequoia.

There is information that in 1912, a sequoia tree was cut down, which reached 115.8 meters in height.

It's hard to imagine the effort required to cut down a tree of this size.

- (Sequoia), genus of evergreens coniferous trees family taxodiaceae. Unity, species S. evergreen (S. sempervirens). It is one of the tallest trees (reaches a height of 110-112 m and a diameter of 6-10 m). St. lives 3000 years. Grows in the mountains of California and South. Oregon... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary

SEQUOIA- or WELLINGTONIA tree from the family. cypress, grows in the north. America: some reach 300 feet. height, trunk circumference 94 feet. Dictionary foreign words, included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. sequoia (named after the Indian leader... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

SEQUOIA- a genus of coniferous trees of the Taxodiaceae family. The only species of sequoia is evergreen, height St. 100 m, diameter 6 11 m. Natural plantings only in the mountains of California and the South. Oregon (USA). Cultivated for light and durable wood (used... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

sequoia- sequoiadendron, wellingtonia Dictionary of Russian synonyms. sequoia noun, number of synonyms: 3 wellingtonia (5) ... Dictionary of synonyms

SEQUOIA- SEQUOIA, and, female. A giant relict coniferous tree native to California. Dictionary Ozhegova. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

SEQUOIA- genus coniferous plants from the family Taxodiaceae. It is known in fossil form from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous; It develops widely in the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic. Nowadays it is preserved only in California. Geological Dictionary: in 2 volumes. M.: Nedra. Under … Geological encyclopedia

Sequoia- (Sequoyah) (1760(70?) 1843), educator of the Cherokee people, who created an alphabet of 85 characters for the language of his tribe. The alphabet is also known as talking leaves. The date of its adoption is considered to be 1821. Later he took the name George Gist,... ... World history

Sequoia- Giant sequoia. Yosemite National Park, California, USA. SEQUOIA, a genus of coniferous trees (family Taxodiaceae). The only type of sequoia is evergreen, height over 100 m, diameter 6 11 m. It grows in the mountains along west coast USA... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

SEQUOIA- (Sequoia), a genus of evergreen coniferous trees of the Taxodiaceae family. The only species of evergreen sequoia (S. sempervirens) is considered a symbol of California. These are the tallest trees in the world, also famous for their beautiful, straight-layered,... ... Collier's Encyclopedia

Sequoia- (Sequoia), national park in California (USA). Created in 1890 on the square. 163.1 thousand hectares for the protection of the unique landscapes of the Sierra Nevada mountains, incl. 32 groves of giant sequoia. More than 70 species of mammals and 120 birds live here. Forms a single protected... ... Geographical encyclopedia

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The only species of the genus is the red or evergreen sequoia. Is a symbol American state California. Known throughout the world for its gigantic size and rot-resistant wood.

Sequoia is considered the tallest tree on the planet. It belongs to the genus of coniferous plants, which means it is also one of the most ancient plants.

During excavations, it was found that the first sequoias appeared on earth approximately 208 million years ago and occupied vast areas in the northern hemisphere.

Nowadays, sequoia grows freely throughout the state of California. This tree is not widespread because it needs a lot of water for normal growth, so it does not go far from the ocean coast.

On at the moment The current record for the tallest tree is 115.5 meters.

This plant was first discovered in the coastal zone Pacific Ocean. For the color of its wood, sequoia received the first name “mahogany”, which is still known today. A little later, this plant was bred into a separate species.

Due to the excellent qualities of its wood, sequoia gained wide popularity and began to be used for the manufacture of various products.

Sequoia has a conical crown, the branches are located horizontally or slightly inclined downwards. The thickness of the bark is very large and can reach 30 cm, fibrous, relatively soft, immediately after removal the color is red-brown, and fades over time.

The root system is shallow and consists of lateral roots. The leaf size does not exceed 20-30 mm in length. They have a flat and elongated shape in young trees.

Sequoia care

Decorative sequoia is very demanding on the amount of moisture in the soil; it is necessary to constantly monitor its level. Dry soil is very harmful to the plant.

Throughout the entire period of life, decorative sequoia needs mineral fertilizers. You need to monitor the lighting level; on a hot day, the plant can absorb large number water, so it needs to be watered regularly.

Sequoia propagation

Initially, sequoia did not grow in our climate, but thanks to the efforts of landscapers and dendrologists, species resistant to cool climates appeared. Sequoia can be propagated by sprouting very small seeds.

These seeds are stored in cones. One cone can contain from 150 to 200 seeds. After lengthy experiments, an adult sequoia began to withstand frosts from 18 to 20 degrees.

It is also possible vegetative propagation: graftings and cuttings. The viability of the redwood tree has been refined over thousands of years.

This tree can easily sprout shoots from an old stump or send out hundreds of shoots from a fallen trunk. Such a rapid renewal became possible thanks to the awakening of dormant buds.

Sequoia planting

Sequoias should be planted in a nutrient substrate; it is advisable to use growth stimulants. It is possible, but not necessary, to lay a layer of coarse sand at the bottom of the planting hole. Young specimens need to be covered for the winter or grown in greenhouses.

Sequoia planting can be done in the spring, from April to May. The plant is very sensitive to transplants, so it is advisable to keep the earth ball on the roots and perform all actions in a short period of time.

Use of sequoia in the garden

Because sequoia is different large sizes, it is often used as a tapeworm in parks. It is not recommended to plant in small areas. Decorative forms of sequoia are often used for bonsai gardens.

Video “Sequoia - the largest tree in the world”

On planet Earth there is a special genus of trees containing only one species. This monotypic genus of trees is called sequoia. Redwood trees grow along the Pacific coast in North America. Sequoia evergreen or red Sequoia sempervirens), taxodium evergreen Taxodium sempervirens) is all the same tree.

These woody plants are distinguished from others by their height, the average value of which is about 90 meters, but there are also record holders. The sequoia, which was called the “Father of Forests,” had its maximum height. It grew in the past, unfortunately, it has not survived to our times. There is only one record holder left.

The maximum height that was recorded at the “Father of Forests” tree is 135 meters! Today, the maximum height of a sequoia environment belongs to the tree "Hyperion", named after the titan of ancient Greek mythology.

"Hyperion" is an evergreen sequoia with a maximum height of 115.6 meters and is the tallest tree on Earth. You can admire it by visiting national park"Redwood", located in the USA in northern California.

Naturalist Chris Atkinson and his assistant Michael Taylor, among the strip tallest trees, found especially giant tree, which was later named "Hyperion". This happened in the summer of 2006. The diameter of the tree is no less huge - at the level of one and a half meters, the diameter of the tree is about 5 meters! The estimated age of the giant is about 800 years.