Tallest sequoia in the world. Giant sequoia: photo
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 of 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 Redwood National Park, located in northern California in the USA.
Naturalist Chris Atkinson and his assistant Michael Taylor, among a belt of tall trees, found a particularly gigantic tree that 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.
- Application
- Characteristics of wood
- Varieties used
Sequoiaceae occupy a special place in the cypress family, including several genera of truly unique trees, the only representatives of which are Sequoia sempervirens and Sequoiadendron.
Gigantic pine trees, as sequoias are also called, in ancient times they were distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere; today in our country several specimens of trees are planted in parks on the Black Sea coast; they are also grown in greenhouses or botanical gardens. But the only place where their natural habitat has been preserved is a relatively small area of the Pacific coast of North America: Redwood National Park and the Muir Forest Reserve in California, approximately 800 km long and about 80 km wide, a small part of eastern Texas and Maryland, the eastern coast Canada.
Description of the species
There has been much debate about the origin of the name “sequoia”, given to it by the Austrian biologist Stefan Endliger. Opinions have been expressed that this is an empty set of sounds, a designation of the sequential order of the location of seeds in cones, and, finally, the name of the famous leader of the Cherokee tribe. The last option is considered the most likely.
These trees prefer a humid maritime climate, which is explained by their concentration on the ocean. It’s not for nothing that they are called giants - the height of sequoia is rarely below 60 m, but taller specimens are more often found - up to 100–115 m. The width of the trunks corresponds to gigantic sizes - giants reach 18 m in diameter, and 6-meter trees are quite an average scale for a sequoia . At the same time, certain species differences can be traced: the giant sequoiadendron is lower - about 70–90 m, but it has a thicker trunk, reaching up to 37 m in girth, while the “thin-trunked” 6-meter evergreen sequoia, or redwood, grows to 100 m and above . The weight of one plant exceeds 1000 kg. People look like Lilliputians against the backdrop of these heroic trees.
The genus Metasequoia glyptostroboides is a glyptostroboid metasequoia growing in China, an evergreen coniferous tree. It is also part of the subfamily, but does not have cyclopean dimensions, being a rather medium-sized tree that belongs to an endangered species.
The size of the plants is impressive, but their age is amazing: to rise to the height of a skyscraper and grow as thick as a house, giant pines sometimes take more than 1000 years. Some unique individuals live longer - up to 2000 and 3500 years. But this is not the limit: there is information about trees 6000 years old. Scientists determine from the layers of wood of these relics the weather conditions - the amount of precipitation, the temperature of the surrounding air in the area - that were hundreds of years ago.
“General Sherman”, “Hyperion”, “Stratospheric Giant” and other, the most famous specimens of sequoia, are unique natural monuments, which thousands of tourists come to admire in the Californian national parks of the USA. Driving along the highway laid through the groves of giants can be considered a real journey through the fairy-tale world of grandiose giants. Along the way, there are tunnels for cars made in fallen trees, huge stumps, on the surface of which it is possible to place an entire parking lot, set up a dance floor or an open-air cafe.
Sequoias are monoecious trees, most of them straight-trunked. Their bark is extremely thick and soft, from 30 to 80 cm in width, and peels off quite easily. In young plants it has a bright red color, for which they are often called American redwood. In old-timers, the shade of the bark becomes darker. Loose, like a sponge, it is able to accumulate a lot of moisture necessary for growth and serves to protect the trunk from unfavorable external conditions and even forest fires. The root system is widely branched and located relatively shallow. Sequoia branches grow horizontally in relation to the trunk; in sequoiedendrons they often hang down like mammoth tusks, for which they are nicknamed mammoth trees. The crowns are very dense, pyramidal in shape, the needles are 10 to 20 mm long, scaly, flat. The cones are round, 3–3.5 cm in size, and consist of spirally twisted scales. Sequoia seeds are small - up to 3–4 mm, ripen in October, and there are from 3 to 7 of them in one cone.
Pests do not damage giant pines - like all conifers, sequoias contain many phytoncides that are destructive to insects and pathogens.
An important property of trees is the ability to quickly recover from mechanical damage - even removing the bark does not become an obstacle to further growth, and in place of completely felled specimens, new young growth quickly rises.
Sequoias are relatively frost-resistant, able to withstand cold temperatures down to -20°C, which makes it possible to plant them in the southern and temperate regions of Russia. It propagates not only by seeds, but also by cuttings, as well as by grafting, making it possible to develop new, including decorative varieties of various sizes, shapes and colors, perfect for landscaping.
Characteristics of wood
The wood of evergreen sequoia and giant sequoia dendron is recognized in the world as one of the best coniferous species. It is similar in quality to spruce, but with greater resistance to fungal attack.
California redwood, as the sequoia is called, has earned considerable popularity. It grows 10 times faster than birch, and the mass of one log can reach 2500 kg. Sequoia is a soft wood type. The sapwood is thin, light creamy in color, looser than the central part. The heartwood is of great value, it is light cherry, carmine or light brown in color with uniform pith rays and vertical rows of resin cells. It has a pronounced contrasting pattern formed by darker growth rings. Young layers are less dense compared to older ones. The fibers of the lumber are straight, and there are almost no curls.
During the pre-processing process, freshly cut material practically does not crack or warp; shrinkage due to the lack of internal stress in sequoia is insignificant, despite the high natural humidity. Dry wood has density about 450 kg/cu.m. m, durable, well resistant to compression and twisting, quite lightweight, resistant to mold, insect damage, and rotting. Its service life is more than 40 years, in contact with soil - about 25.
Varieties used
The best grade is recognized as the so-called pure heartwood, free of knots and other defects, uniform in density, with an impeccable texture and regular geometric pattern. It is dried naturally and is not exposed to high temperatures. This material is used exclusively for the production of top-class products and finishing.
The following types of wood are considered to be of lower quality, but quite practical and durable: simply pure and sound wood. They can undergo pre-drying in ovens, contain a small amount of sapwood, and contain knots and other defects. These types are used for the manufacture of various outdoor structures, supporting structures, flooring of terraces, installation of fences.
In addition, there is a gradation within the less valuable varieties:
- construction (deck) sound - includes fragments with a large number of knots, intended for beams, decking, installation of supports;
- ordinary construction - a mixture of sapwood and core, used for various ground structures: gazebos, verandas, flooring, fences;
- commercial soundwood is a type of pure, but cheaper wood, the composition includes various defects: cracks, knots, processing defects. It is used for outdoor work, where decorative qualities are not important, but high strength and resistance to adverse factors are required;
- commercial - the lowest grade, which requires the presence of sapwood, is used only for external work: building fences, formwork of supporting walls.
Sequoia easily lends itself to any type of processing: sawing, grinding, cutting with mechanical and hand tools. Holds screws, nails and staples well, can be etched with stains, sanded and polished, glued and painted.
Application
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. At home, 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 tiles, and paper.
Sequoia is odorless, so it can come into contact with food, and in addition, it is excellent for making cigar cases and boxes, barrels for storing honey, and boxes for spices.
Fire walls and exits have been made from redwood trees historically due to the wood's high resistance to fire.
Many thousands of years ago, most of the Earth's territories were covered with forests with 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 tallest sequoia was found - " 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 sempervirens (D. Don) Endl. - Sequoia evergreen, or Red sequoia.
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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 tallest and oldest trees grow in gorges and deep ravines, where streams of moist air can reach all year round and where fogs regularly occur. Trees growing above the fog layer (above 700 m) are shorter and smaller due to drier, windier and cooler growing conditions.
Facts
Trees over 60 m high are very common, many are higher than 90 m.
The giant sequoia or, as it is also called, the mammoth tree, has rightfully earned the title of the tallest tree in the world. It’s not for nothing that this long-liver is considered one of the wonders of the world. This plant belongs to the coniferous trees and can reach a height of up to 110 meters, while its trunk in girth can be more than 12 meters. And the lifespan of this miracle of nature is simply unthinkable. She can live up to 5 thousand years. This tree is the oldest on the planet.
How did the sequoia appear?
Currently, scientists have concluded that a tree appeared on the planet more than 100 million years ago. There is a lot of evidence for this conclusion: fossils found in different places on the planet, other geological deposits that make it possible to identify the approximate time of the appearance of this unusual natural phenomenon on the planet.
Even in ancient times, sequoia seeds spread across the territories that today are occupied by France, Japan and the New Siberian Islands. It is believed that the giant tree existed back in the time of dinosaurs, when entire forests with powerful trunks occupied vast areas throughout the northern hemisphere. As experts say, 50 million years ago there was an ice age, which affected not only the distribution area of the tree, but also its size. After the weather warmed up, the plant remained in its original form, however, it now settled in only one place. The mainland of North America is considered the birthplace of sequoia.
For the first time, giant sequoias were discovered by the Spaniards back in 1769, when they went on an expedition to the area of present San Francisco. They received the nickname “Mammoth trees” from the botanist Endlifer, who was the first in the world to call them “red trees”. And at first no one could even imagine what to do with these huge trunks. For a long time, trees were not used at all, because neither a saw nor an ax can take them, due to the very hard bark and wood. And sequoia wood is not suitable for construction, like the material of other conifers.
Due to their uselessness, the giant sequoia forests were even completely destroyed in 1848. But people are very contradictory. By the time almost half of the trees were destroyed, environmentalists and US authorities began to protect the sequoia. After all, these giants of the natural world were supposed to survive to their descendants in their original form.
Present time
Currently sequoia, Wikipedia speaks about this unequivocally, it grows only on the Pacific coast of California, although it is the property of all mankind, a unique tree of the plant world. In addition to this place, sequoia also grows on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. These are the only two places where you can still see giant trees in full beauty and power. The reserve occupies huge areas of the coast and mountain slopes, which gives tourists the opportunity to visit these places and admire the beauty of the forest.
The tree cannot grow high in the mountains because it requires very high humidity. But nevertheless, the mammoth tree tolerates low temperatures well, which allowed it to survive in the Ice Age.
Every year, the United States is visited by many tourists who are eager to take pictures at the foot of the giants, and the Americans themselves respect these trees. One of them even has a name - he was named after the American commander. This giant is protected by law as a cultural monument and is considered the property of all of America. Scientists are showing remarkable interest in sequoia, but it is not cut down under any pretext.
General Sherman
The tree named "General Sherman" grows in the Sierra Nevada and is considered the most amazing plant on the planet. The height of the trunk is more than 83 meters, and its girth is more than 148 meters. The age of the tree, according to approximate calculations, is as much as 2700 years, which is quite a lot for a plant. But the sequoia constantly continues to grow, which is also a rather unique fact. Sequoia annually grows as much wood on its trunk as an 18-meter tree can grow. Scientists are still studying this unique plant, which has seen almost the entire history of mankind.
No less famous representative
Another representative of the coniferous species is sequoia is a sequoiadendron tree. The place where this sequoia was cut down still preserves the base of the giant in its original form. It, like the General Sherman, is honored to become one of the symbols of America. The tree was cut down in 1930 after 1930 years. Very symbolic! Annual rings are painted on its trunk and signed:
What is sequoia
Externally the tree is a huge trunk covered with thick bark. Its thickness reaches 60 cm. The sap of the tree completely lacks oils that are found in other conifers, but there is a huge amount of tannin, which prevents the tree from burning. Even after a severe fire, the sequoia will survive and continue to grow, while other conifers die. The wood of this plant is not at all affected by fungi, rot or small bugs. Its roots are so deep in the ground that the wind is unable to knock down this tree. The growth rate of sequoia reaches 3-4 meters per year, the maximum height is 110 meters, the tree’s greater height was discovered quite recently in one of the national parks, its height is 115.5 meters.
Sequoia wood has a bright pink color that changes to red closer to the center. It is very durable, which allows it to serve for a long time. Although sequoia is not used in construction or other purposes on the farm.
Reproduction
The northern giant is a gymnosperm tree and produces a huge number of seeds, but only a small fraction of them can successfully germinate. But even those that were able to break through the ground struggle for life for a long time. A young tree branches along its entire length, but the older and more majestic it becomes, the fewer lower branches are retained. This helps the sequoia to form a reliable and durable dome, which prevents light rays from penetrating down to the ground. And a young tree cannot live without light.
But nothing grows under the arches of majestic plants. That is why it is very difficult to say that a tree reproduces naturally. It's much more common planted with small seedlings, whose age does not exceed a year. And they are planted away from the main planting. But growing sequoia artificially will only be necessary if the wood begins to be actively used in construction. After all, then the plant may simply disappear.
Places of growth
Today sequoia grows in:
- UK;
- Spain;
- New Zealand.
The tree requires high humidity, and therefore all existing reserves are located near the sea. But you can meet this giant in Russia. We also have access to the sea and humid air with a warm climate. This place is located in the Krasnodar region, and therefore sequoia grows there. In the Sochi arboretum there is a planting of this evergreen, but not yet a giant. But within a few thousand years, huge trunks with branched crowns will rise there, which will amaze the imagination of tourists and residents of this glorious place.