The park is known all over the world for its giant sequoias. One of them is the General Sherman Tree - the largest tree on Earth. This tree grows in the Giant Forest, which also contains five of the ten largest trees in the world in terms of wood volume. In addition, the Park has a number of other attractions. The most popular of these is Tunnel Log, a small car tunnel cut right in the middle of a giant sequoia that has fallen on the road.
Sequoia National Park is located in the southern Sierra Nevada, California. The area of the park is 1635 sq. Km. It is known for the fact that on its territory there are the tallest, giant sequoia trees. They got their name in honor of the leader of the Sequoia Cherokee Indians. The park has a mountainous terrain, rising from a height of about 400 m above sea level in the foothills, to the top of the highest mountain in the neighboring 48 states, Mount Whitney, with a height of 4 421.1 m. Besides unique trees, the Park is also famous for its caves. There are about 250 of them, one of which is 32 kilometers long. For tourists, only one cave is open - Kristalnaya, the second largest in the Park.
The found fossil samples give us an idea that sequoias existed in the Jurassic period and occupied vast territories in the Northern Hemisphere. Now they can only be found in California and Southern Oregon. Here, sequoias feel comfortable because they love the moisture that sea fogs from the Pacific Ocean bring. Usually, giant sequoias reach 100 m in height, up to 11 m in diameter. The average life span of this huge living organism is 4 thousand years. The bark of trees is thick, fibrous, not amenable to combustion. When touched, the palm sinks into the tree, as it were, creating an unusual sensation.
Established in 1890 with the aim of protecting the forests formed by the sequoias. Sequoias of two types grow here: giant and evergreen (redwood). These are trees of enormous size - more than 100 m in height and up to 10 m in girth, their age reaches 2-4 thousand years.
Sequoias - these giant trees are represented by two species - evergreen sequoia and giant sequoia or mammoth tree. Their height reaches up to 100 meters, and their diameter is up to 10 meters. Redwoods are known for their age - the tree can live up to 4000 years. The unique combination of age, size and weight of these trees makes them the largest living creatures on Earth today. And this is one of the few trees that has adapted to forest fires. The giant sequoia is second only in life expectancy to bristlecone pines, which are found in the arid mountains of the Sierra Nevada.
The most popular tree in the park is the General Sherman tree, which is located in the Giant Forest. It is the largest tree in the world, its height is 81 meters, the diameter at the base is about 32 meters, and the age is about 3 thousand years. The Forest of Giants contains five of the ten largest trees in the world by volume of wood. The forest is connected by the road of Generals with Grant Grove - Grant Grove in the Kings Canyon National Park, where another attraction of the park is located - the General Grant tree.
Tunnel Log is a small car tunnel cut right in the middle of a giant sequoia that has fallen on the road.
Many thousands of years ago, most of the Earth's territory was covered with forests with huge trees and plants. Studies have shown that giant trees existed 200-150 million years ago, during the Jurassic period.
From the time of the dinosaurs to the present day, giant and evergreen sequoias have survived. Evergreen sequoia Sequoia Sempervirens- the largest tree on our planet. The usual height of a sequoia is about 90 meters, but some specimens stretch over 100 meters in height. Sequoia is a long-lived tree and can live for 3000 years.
Sequoia wood is valuable because neither mushrooms 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, since the age of a tree can only be determined by the rings, by sawing it. General Sherman is the largest tree on Earth in terms of timber 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 the currently growing, its height is almost 84 meters, and the 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 inhibited 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 ropes to climb the "Hyperion" - the tallest sequoia.
There is information that in 1912 a sequoia was cut down, which reached 115.8 meters in height.
It is difficult to imagine the effort required to cut a tree of this size.
Sequoia evergreen wood has high strength. It does not rot for a long time and withstands lateral loads, as a result of which it is suitable for a variety of purposes, including sawing. The wood of the giant sequoia is lighter and more fragile, therefore it is not used as lumber.
It is quite easy to process such wood, however, due to the softness and possible splitting during drilling and milling, as well as planing and profiling, work must be carried out with great care.
Thanks to its excellent wood and fast growth of the tree, sequoia is specially grown in forestry. Light and dense, it is not subject to rotting and insect attacks. Sequoia wood is widely used for both building and joinery material. This wood is used to make furniture, sleepers, telegraph poles, railroad cars, paper and tiles. The lack of smell makes it possible to use it in the tobacco and food industries. It is used to produce boxes and boxes for cigars and tobacco, barrels for storing honey and molasses.
Recently, the construction of houses from a sequoia bar has been gaining momentum, which is ideal for any buildings made of wood. Such a structure will appeal to connoisseurs of comfort and convenience. Houses made of sequoia timber are characterized by high environmental safety, aesthetic appeal and multifunctional well-thought-out layout.
A huge advantage of this material is the presence of oils in it, which protect the wood from decay. Products from California sequoia will decorate any room, as they are most popular in the manufacture of furniture.
Due to the listed qualities, sequoia wood is an ideal material for roofing shingles and exterior decoration of buildings. It is also used for the manufacture of racks and profile products for interior decoration of premises. The wood is used for the production of plywood and decorative veneer. Fiber plates and filter materials are made from thick bark.
Sequoia application
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plants |
| Superdivision: | Gymnosperms |
| Department: | Conifers |
| Class: | Conifers |
| Order: | Pine |
| Family: | Cypress |
| Subfamily: | Sequoioideae |
| Genus: | |
| Latin name | |
| Sequoia Endl. (1847), nom. cons. | |
| Views | |
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Sequoia evergreen Sequoia sempervirens ( D.Don) Endl. |
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Biostability and durability make sequoia wood an ideal material for the manufacture of wooden pipes, gutters and trays, tanks, vats, roofing shingles, for external cladding of buildings. It is also used on coffins, uprights and profile products for interior decoration. Wood is used in the production of plywood. The thick bark is used as a raw material for fibrous plates and filter materials.
Easy to machine, but due to its softness and possible splitting during drilling, chiselling and milling, as well as planing and profiling, care must be taken. To loosen the crushing of the fibers, it is necessary to sharpen the cutting edges sharply and remove waste in a timely manner.
Sequoia varieties
- Architectural varieties of sequoia they are used where the appearance must maintain compliance with the design requirements long after the commissioning of the object. This quality wood can be supplied dry or without drying. Unrivaled in beauty and durability, it is the best choice for precise and tight assembly of intricate or rigorous design projects.
- Pure Sound(Clear All Heart) - The best grade. Can be oven dried, air dried or non-dried. Careful observance of geometry, absence of defects on the front side.
- Net(Clear) - Similar in quality to Pure Sound, but may contain some sapwood. Ideal for visible parts of ground structures.
- Sound B(Heart B) - Contains a limited number of knots and other defects not allowed in the Extra Classes. Used in the same way as Pure Sound.
- Grade B(B Grade) - Similar in characteristics to Sound B, but may contain sapwood. It is used in the same way as Clean - for decking, garden structures and other above-ground structures.
- Construction / Deck Sound(Construction Heart / Deck Heart) - All sound varieties contain knots. They are recommended for use near the ground, as supports, beams and decks.
- Construction / Deck Regular(Construction Common / Deck Common) - Contains knots and a mixture of heartwood and sapwood. Recommended for overhead structures such as fences, benches or verandas.
- Trading Sound(Merchantable Heart) - The cheapest of the pure-sound varieties, tolerates slightly larger and worse knots than construction varieties, as well as hair-like cracks, small end cracks and a number of manufacturing defects.
- Trading(Merchantable) - Same stats as Merchant Sound, but may contain sapwood. Suitable for fences, trellises and other applications outside of ground contact.
- Garden varieties of sequoia best suited for outdoor use. Their variable texture and knot pattern allows them to be successfully combined with other natural materials. Horticultural varieties can be supplied after drying or without drying and are usually in the form of edged lumber, from 6 meters in length and up to short trims used for curbs and parapets.
Useful tables
| List of the largest Giant Sequoias by volume of timber. | ||||
| Tree name | Location | Height | Diameter (m) | Circumference (m) |
| General Sherman | Giant Forest Grove | 84.0 m | 11,1 | 32,3 |
| General Grant | General Grant's Grove | 82.1 m | 11,4 | 33,8 |
| The president | Giant Forest Grove | 74.2 m | 10 | 29,3 |
| Lincoln | Giant Forest Grove | 79.1 m | 10,5 | 31,3 |
| Stagg | Alder Creek Grove | 73.9 m | 11,6 | 34,2 |
| Bul | Talking Pool Grove | 82.0 m | 12,00 | 35,6 |
| Genesis | Mountain House Grove | 78.1 m | 9,3 | 27,2 |
| Franklin | Giant Forest Grove | 69.3 m | 10,2 | 29,4 |
| King Arthur | Garfield's Grove | 82.9 m | 11,1 | 32,8 |
| James Monroe | Giant Forest Grove | 76.4 m | 9,9 | 29 |
| Robert Lee | General Grant's Grove | 77.5 m | 9,6 | 27,8 |
| John Edams | Giant Forest Grove | 77.3 m | 9,1 | 26,4 |
| Ishi the giant | Kennedy Grove | 74.9 m | 11,2 | 33,1 |
| Column | Giant Forest Grove | 75.8 m | 10 | 29,3 |
| Road up | Mountain House Grove | 75.3 m | 9 | 26,1 |
| Euclid | Mountain House Grove | 84.2 m | 9,1 | 26,4 |
| Washington | Grove of Maripos | 72.8 m | 10,3 | 29,9 |
| General Pershing | Giant Forest Grove | 74.9 m | 9,8 | 28,8 |
| Diamond | Atwell Mill Grove | 88.3 m | 10,2 | 30,1 |
| Edam | Mountain House Grove | 76.3 m | 10,1 | 29,7 |
| Roosevelt | Mount Redwood Grove | 78.9 m | 8,8 | 25,5 |
| J. Nelder | Neldar's Grove | 82.2 m | 9,7 | 28,3 |
| "AD" (Common Era) | Atwell Mill Grove | 74.5 m | 10,6 | 31,2 |
| Michael Hurt | Mount Redwood Grove | 85.2 m | 8,3 | 23,9 |
| Giant grizzly | Grove of Maripos | 64.8 m | 10 | 29,2 |
| Home Sequoia | Giant Forest Grove | 68.9 m | 9,8 | 28,6 |
| Matthewsla | Mountain House Grove | 64.5 m | 10,3 | 30,2 |
| Great goshawk | Freeman Creek Grove | 88.7 m | 9,7 | 28,5 |
| Hamilton | Giant Forest Grove | 73.8 m | 9 | 26,2 |
| Dean | Atwell Mill Grove | 82.8 m | 10,4 | 31 |
| Beautiful Black Mountain | Blackrock Grove | 79.9 m | 8,4 | 24,2 |
| Giant Saddles | Saddle Grove | 67.5 m | 11,3 | 33,4 |
| Allen Russell | Mountain House Grove | 78.2 m | 8,8 | 25,4 |
| Cleveland | Giant Forest Grove | 77.6 m | 8,8 | 25,4 |
| Dalton | Grove Muir | 84.8 m | 8,4 | 24,2 |
| Louis Edgessies | State Calaveras Park | 80.1 m | 10,5 | 30,9 |
| Nir Ed | Giant Forest Grove | 78.4 m | 8,7 | 25,2 |
| Evans | Grove Kennedy | 71.3 m | 8,5 | 24,6 |
| Jack's three girths | Mountain House Grove | 74.3 m | 9 | 26,1 |
| Patriarch | Grove McIntyre | 84.1 m | 8 | 23,1 |
| Red Chief | Long Meadow Grove | 75.6 m | 8,8 | 25,6 |
| Guardian | Giant Forest Grove | 79.4 m | 8,7 | 25,1 |
| Bull Buck | Neldar's Grove | 74.9 m | 10,6 | 31,2 |
| Next to Limp | Grove McIntyre | 77.7 m | 8,3 | 24 |
| Limp Goliath | Grove McIntyre | 84.9 m | 7,6 | 21,7 |
| Candelabra | Saddle Grove | 69.5 m | 8,1 | 23,3 |
| Bannister | Freeman Creek Grove | 61.3 m | 11 | 32,5 |
| Ghost | Saddle Grove | 59.3 m | 10,2 | 30 |
Syn .: mahogany.
Sequoia is a monotypic genus of woody plants of the Cypress family, represented by a single species, evergreen (or red) sequoia. The sequoia is considered one of the tallest trees on the planet, some specimens can be taller than 110 meters, and the maximum age of the sequoia is 2000 years. The plant is used as a building material and is part of a dietary supplement to strengthen bones.
Ask the experts
In medicine
In official medicine, sequoia is not used. However, sequoia extract is present in some supplements.
Contraindications and side effects
Since sequoia is not used in official medicine, no contraindications have been identified. Any use of the plant for medicinal purposes is contraindicated.
In gardening
Sequoia is not widely used in horticulture for a simple reason: it grows very slowly, and only the great-grandchildren, who began to grow sequoia, will find the "teenage" period of the tree's development. However, sequoia is sometimes grown. In Russia, this is done mainly in the Krasnodar Territory, for example, in the Sochi arboretum there is a section with sequoias.
The tree can be grown from seed or purchased as a seedling. Seeds harvested in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California are considered superior to seed that can be purchased from European nurseries. The fact is that sequoia was brought to the botanical gardens of Europe a little more than a century ago, for trees this is a small age, they are too young to give strong seeds. But seedlings, on the contrary, are better to order from nurseries in France and Britain, they may not be able to transfer transportation from America.
Seeds need to be prepared before planting, first they are placed in the refrigerator for a week, then soaked in water at room temperature for two days. They are planted in a sandy-clayey moist soil, sprinkled with earth by 1-2 mm, and placed in a sunny place. It is recommended to cover the container with cling film. The crops are sprayed and aired twice a day, they cannot be watered, because they can die from waterlogging. Seed germination is low, 15-20 percent. The first shoots may appear in a week, a couple of months.
When sprouts appear, the cling film must be removed. Young shoots need the sun, but direct sunlight is harmful, so the plant needs to be shaded. Five months after planting, the sequoia already looks like a small Christmas tree. Up to three years, the plant is grown in a pot and watered regularly. Then it can be transplanted into the ground, but you need to keep in mind that sequoia does not tolerate temperatures below minus 18 degrees.
In other areas
Sequoia wood is widely used as a building and joinery material, it has high strength, is little susceptible to rotting and damage by insects, and also withstands lateral loads well. Furniture, sleepers, telegraph poles, paper, tiles are made of wood; produce boxes for storing tobacco and cigars, barrels for molasses and honey.
The durability and strength of sequoia make it an excellent material for making gutters, tanks, vats, pipes. It is used for interior decoration and exterior cladding of houses. Thick bark is a raw material for fibrous plates and filter materials. Even coffins are made from sequoia.
In recent years, the construction of houses from a sequoia bar has become popular, although this fashion mainly concerns the United States.
Classification
Sequoia (Latin Sequoia) is a monotypic genus of woody plants of the Cypress family (Latin Cupressaceae).
Botanical description
The sequoia is a monoecious evergreen tree. Has a conical crown. The branches grow with a slight downward slope, or horizontally. The bark can be up to 30 cm thick, fibrous, soft, reddish-brown, darkening over time. The root system is a shallow, widely spreading roots. The leaves of a young sequoia are flat and elongated, 15-25 mm long, and on top of the crowns of old trees are scaly, 5-10 mm long.
The cones are ovoid, 15-32 mm long, the scales are spirally twisted. Pollination occurs at the end of winter, and ripening after 8-9 months. Each cone contains 3-7 seeds 3-4 mm long. After drying, the bump opens and the seeds spill out.
The sequoia genome (constituting 31,500 megabases) is one of the largest among conifers and is the only currently known hexaploid among gymnosperms.
Spreading
Sequoia grows in the United States off the Pacific coast, from California to southwestern Oregon, at an average elevation of 30-750 m above sea level. Wood prefers moisture and fog. Sequoias growing above the fog layer are shallower and shorter. Sequoia is grown in British Columbia, Hawaii, New Zealand, Great Britain, Portugal, Italy, Mexico and South Africa. In Russia, sequoia is grown in the Krasnodar Territory.
Regions of distribution on the map of Russia.
Procurement of raw materials
The plant is not used for medicinal purposes and is not harvested for future use.
Chemical composition
The chemical composition of sequoia is poorly understood.
Pharmacological properties
The pharmacological properties of sequoia have not been studied.
Application in traditional medicine
Sequoia is not used in folk medicine, but the plant extract is contained in the BIO SEQUOIA dietary supplement, designed to strengthen bones and joints.
Historical reference
The sequoia got its name in the second half of the 19th century, as the tree was named by the Austrian botanist, numismatist and orientalist Stefan Endlicher, an outstanding taxonomist who created the best natural system of plants at that time (Genera plantarum secundum ordines naturalis disposita, Vienna, 1836-1840; Enchiridion botanicum ", Leipzig, 1841). It is believed that Endlicher named the tree after the leader of the Cherokee Indian tribe of the Sequoia, better known by the English name George Hess. Sequoia was the founder of Cherokee writing, it was he who invented the alphabet of 85 characters, watching the British colonialists write their speech on paper.
It is believed that the tallest sequoia was cut down in 1912 and reached a height of 115.8 m, but there is no documentary evidence of this. So at the moment, the highest sequoia tree remains the tree discovered in 2006 by Chris Atkins, named Hyperion, its height is 115.61 meters. Moreover, the researchers agree that only the damage caused by the woodpecker placed the sequoia to grow even more. And before Hyperion, the record holder was the sequoia Stratospheric giant from the Humboldt-Redvus park with a height of 113, 11 m.
Literature
1. Trifonova VI Family Taxodiaceae (Taxodiaceae) // Plant Life. In 6 volumes / Ch. ed. Al. A. Fedorov. - M .: Education, 1978. - T. 4. Mosses. Plauns. Horsetails. Ferns. Gymnosperms. Ed. I. V. Grushvitsky and S. G. Zhilin. - S. 374-383. - 447 p.
Sequoia is a hero tree, one of the tallest and oldest trees on our planet. Its size is shocking, changing the idea of \ u200b \ u200bthe trees that we are used to in doll cities. This feeling of being tiny will not leave you for a long time. It clearly does not fit into the framework of perception of a modern person, which is usually equivalent to the size of a phone - the eyes go in different directions, wanting to embrace 111 meters of wildlife with a single gaze and not clink glasses.
The ability to see the whole world without tearing it into frames was probably the most commonplace for people who once lived among such giants.
Where does the name come from?
Only one tree was named after the people's leader. This is what the Iroquois Indian tribe in North America did: wishing to perpetuate the memory of their outstanding leader Sequa, they assigned his name to one of the most unusual and majestic trees. It was he, Sekwu, who invented the Indian writing, led the liberation struggle of the Iroquois against foreign oppressors, was the first popular enlightener.
However, numerous attempts were made to rename the sequoia. So, immediately after the discovery of sequoia by Europeans, they named it the California pine, and later called it the mammoth tree (for the similarity of old sagging branches with mammoth tusks). Some time passed, and the English botanist Lindley, who first described this tree scientifically, gave it a new name - Wellingtonia in honor of the English commander Wellington, who distinguished himself in the battle with Napoleon's troops at Waterloo. The Americans decided not to lag behind and rushed to christen the sequoia Washington, in memory of their first President George Washington.
How long does a tree live?
Numerous studies show that its age can reach 6,000 years: this is more than the entire ancient, middle and modern history of mankind. Some sequoias are many centuries older than the Egyptian pyramids.
Where does Sequoia grow?
Experts from many countries claim that in distant geological periods, sequoias grew throughout the earth.
Now the oldest giant sequoia grows in the United States along the Pacific coast in a strip about 750 km long and 8 to 75 km wide from California to southwestern Oregon. Sequoia is also grown in the Canadian province of British Columbia, in the southeastern United States from eastern Texas to Maryland, Hawaii, New Zealand, Great Britain, Italy, Portugal, South Africa and Mexico. Average heights - 30-750 m above sea level, sometimes trees grow near the coast, sometimes they climb to a height of 920 m. Sequoia loves the humidity that the sea air brings with it. The tallest and oldest trees grow in gorges and deep ravines, where currents of moist air can reach all year round and where fogs regularly occur. Trees growing above the fog layer (above 700 m) are lower and smaller due to drier, windy and cooler growing conditions.
Russian sequoia
The efforts of our scientists to acclimatize the sequoia did not immediately yield encouraging results. Only after many years of experiments did it begin to grow in the parks of the Crimea, the Caucasus, in the south of Central Asia and in Transcarpathia. It has been established that in our conditions it can withstand frosts of no more than 18-20 degrees.
The seeds obtained from our sequoias did not germinate well, and only after the application of artificial pollination, proposed by the Soviet Michurinists, was it possible to increase their germination to 50-60%. The vegetative propagation of sequoias is also well mastered: by cuttings or grafts.
The pioneers of the acclimatization of giant trees in our country were botanical scientists from the Nikitsky Botanical Garden. Sequoia has been cultivated here since 1850. It is in the Nikitsky Garden that the oldest specimen of the giant sequoia in Europe is located, and in many parks of the Southern Crimea and the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, it has now become an almost obligatory tree. The height of its individual specimens (in the park of the village of Frunzenskoye, in the Crimea, in the Batumi Botanical Garden on Cape Verde and in other places) exceeds 50 meters.
Why do scientists love sequoia?
The longevity of the sequoia is at the service of science. With the help of these ancient inhabitants, scientists managed to look into the depths of millennia. Thanks to the growth rings on the transverse sections of the huge trunks, the researchers obtained quite reliable data on the climate of bygone times. After all, sequoias, responding to variable weather, regularly and accordingly to the amount of precipitation of each year increased thicker, then thinner layers of wood, or annual rings. Scientists have examined the trunks of over 450 such giants. These materials made it possible to trace the weather for more than 2000 years. As a result, it became, for example, known that 2000, 900 and 600 years ago there were periods very rich in precipitation, and the periods 1200 and 1400 years away from us were distinguished by extremely long and severe droughts.
American scientists with the help of redwoods also learned the weather of a closer time. So, it was possible to establish that 1900 and 1934 were marked for the North American continent by the most severe droughts over the past 1200 years.
Not afraid of fires
The bark of an adult sequoia is about half a meter thick and absorbs water like a sponge. Thanks to this structure, these trees are not at all afraid of fires, which are not uncommon in coniferous forests - young trees with thin bark die, the old ones have not been destroyed by fire, and this is over thousands of years of constant attempts.
Lightning lover
Sequoia pays a high price for its greatness. Proudly towering above the rest of the trees, it attracts lightning like a magnetized rod. Despite the deadly blows, many trees manage to survive by dropping scorched branches.
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryotes
Kingdom: Plants
Department: Conifers
Class: Conifers (Pinopsida Burnett, 1835)
Order: Pine
Family: Cypress
Subfamily: Redwoods
Genus: Sequoia
International scientific name
Sequoia Endl. (1847), nom. cons.
Child taxa
Sequoia evergreen
Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl.
Conservation status
VU from English. Vulnerable species are vulnerable species. Conservation status assigned to species that are at risk of becoming endangered
Botanical description
Sequoia is an evergreen monoecious tree.
In monoecious plants, female and male flowers (in the broadest sense - male and female generative organs) are located on the same individual (“in the same house”). Monoecious is more common in wind-pollinated plants. Monoecious plants include: watermelon, birch, beech, walnut, oak, corn, hazel, cucumber, alder, pumpkin and other pumpkin, breadfruit. In the broadest sense of monoecious, monoecious plants also include spruce, pine, and many mosses and algae.
The crown is conical in shape, the branches grow horizontally or with a slight downward slope. The bark is very thick, up to 30 cm thick, and relatively soft, fibrous, red-brown color immediately after it is removed (hence the name "mahogany"), darkens over time. The root system consists of shallow, widely spread lateral roots. The leaves of young trees are elongated and flat, 15-25 mm long, in the upper part of the crown of old trees are scaly, 5 to 10 mm long.
Useful for its qualities and very thick (in comparison with other tree species) bark of sequoia, which, like a sponge, absorbs water well. Thanks to this structure of the bark, these trees are absolutely not afraid of fires.
Cones are ovoid, 15-32 mm long, with 15-25 spirally twisted scales; pollination occurs at the end of winter, ripening - after 8-9 months. Each cone contains 3-7 seeds, each of which is 3-4 mm long and 0.5 mm wide. The seeds spill out when the bud dries and opens.
The sequoia genome (constituting 31,500 megabases) is one of the largest among conifers, and it is the only currently known hexaploid among gymnosperms.
How to grow a Sequoia at home
Initially, sequoia did not grow in our climate, but thanks to the efforts of gardeners and dendrologists, species that are resistant to cool climates have appeared. It is better to find the place of germination of these trees close to you. Having received the sequoia seeds, they should be prepared for planting. It is better to do this in early spring, so that by the onset of next winter, the small sequoias will have time to get stronger. To begin with, the seeds should "overwinter" in the refrigerator for about a week. At the same time, you should not put them in the freezer, a temperature of about +6 C is enough. Then you need to arrange a "thaw" for them by soaking them for a couple of days in thawed water at room temperature. Seeds should be planted in a sandy-clayey well-moistened soil, sprinkled with earth by 1-2 mm, and it is important that sunlight falls on the seeds. At this time, they can be covered with cling film or a transparent cap.
A couple of times a day, crops must be ventilated and sprayed. At the same time, it is very important to keep the soil moist, but not wet, since the shoots often die from waterlogging. To avoid this, the sprouts should be sprayed with a spray bottle and not watered with a watering can. The germination rate of sequoias is low, in the best case, 15-25% of the seeds will sprout. The first shoots may appear in 2 days, and maybe in 2 months.
As soon as you have sprouts, the film or cap must be removed immediately. Without free air circulation, the sprouts die quickly. A couple of days after pecking, the sprout drops the dry skin of the seed. If he has any difficulties with this, you can gently help him. Young shoots love the sun, but they should be shaded from direct sunlight. Small sequoias should not be kept close to heating appliances. Dry air is harmful to them. In 5 months you will already have a miniature Christmas tree. Sequoia under 3 years old should be kept in a pot and watered regularly. Dry periods are stressful for the sequoia, as a result of which it greatly slows down growth. Biennial plants can be kept outdoors in warm weather. For the winter, the tree should be brought into the house. From spring it can be kept outdoors in a well-lit place. A tree with a height of 1-1.5 m can already be planted in open ground. In European climatic conditions, sequoia can withstand frosts down to -18 C.
Lumberjacks hunt Sequoia
For the reddish wood, as if impregnated with carmine, the sequoia is sometimes also called the mahogany. Its wood is valued not only because of its original color, but also because of its unusual physical properties: it is light, like that of aspen, and porous, like that of paulownia, perfectly resists rotting in the ground and water, and easily lends itself to any processing.
Facts
The tallest sequoia, named Hyperion, was discovered in the summer of 2006 by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor in Redwood National Park north of San Francisco. The height of the tree is 115.61 meters. The researchers said the damage done to the tree at the top by the woodpecker prevented the redwoods from reaching a height of 115.8 meters (380 ft).
15 trees currently growing have a height of more than 110 m, and 47 trees are more than 105 m.
Some argue that the height of the sequoia, felled in 1912, was 115.8 m.
The second place in height after the sequoia is occupied by Douglassia (Menzies' pseudo-jug). The tallest living pseudo-hobbyist of Menzies, Doerner Fir (formerly known as Brummit fir), is 99.4 meters high.
In 2004, a study by Northern Arizona University researchers was published in the journal Nature, according to which the maximum theoretical height of a sequoia (or any other tree) is limited to 122-130 meters due to gravity and friction between water and the pores of the wood through which it oozes.
The most voluminous tree among the red woods is Titan Del Norte. The volume of this sequoia is estimated at 1044.7 m³, the height is 93.57 m, and the diameter is 7.22 m. only 15 giant sequoias (sequoiadendrons) growing on Earth are more massive than him. Giant sequoia are somewhat shorter but have a thicker trunk than redwoods. So, the volume of the largest specimen of the sequoiadendron "General Sherman" is equal to 1487 m³.
National Park "Sequoia"
Sequoia National Park is a national park in the United States, located in the southern part of the Sierra Nevada, east of the city of Visalia in California. The park was founded in 1890, the third after the Yellowstone National Parks (since 1872) and Makino (1875-1895). The area of the park is 1635 km². The park has mountainous terrain, rising from a height of about 400 meters above sea level in the foothills to the highest point in the adjacent 48 states - the summit of Mount Whitney (4421.1 m). The park is bordered by Kings Canyon National Park; Since 1943, both parks have been managed by the US National Park Service as a single unit - Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
The park is best known for its giant sequoias, including a specimen called General Sherman, the largest (by volume of wood) tree on Earth. In 2009, the volume of wood of this tree was just under 1,500 cubic meters. General Sherman grows in the Giant Forest, which contains five of the ten largest timber trees in the world. The giant forest is connected by Generals Highway with Grant Grove in Kings Canyon National Park, where, among others, the General Grant tree grows - the second largest tree in the world by volume of wood.
Other attractions include the Moro Rock, which can be climbed using a staircase specially built in the 1930s to view the surroundings from a height of 75 meters above the ground.
I just want to paint on a couple of dinosaurs here.
How Sequoia was photographed
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