#cupressaceae

Metasequoia - Tristan Unrau , 2021.

Canadian , b. 1989 -

📍 Location: Yosemite, California 🗓 Date: June 5, 2026 🐾 Media: Image 🌿 Species: Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) 📝 Notes: Massive evergreen conifer native to the western slopes of California’s Sierra Nevada. Recognized by its enormous trunk, reddish-brown fibrous bark, and immense size, making it among the largest trees on Earth by volume.

Found in mixed conifer forests at mid to high elevations, Giant Sequoias can live for thousands of years. They produce small cones and rely in part on natural fire cycles to help create conditions favorable for seedling establishment. These iconic trees provide habitat for numerous wildlife species and are among the most celebrated trees in North America.

AKA California redwood.

Originally described as Taxodium sempervirens, the 'evergreen Taxodium' by Scottish botanist David Don in 1824.

The tallest and among the longest-lived trees on earth - this individual is a mere 150 years old or so, but left to their own devices can reach over 110m in height, almost 10m in trunk diameter, and over 2000 years of age.

Assuming somebody hasn't come along with an saw. Prior to extensive logging, Coast Redwoods grew along much of Central and Northern California coastal regions, and up into Oregon. The timber is impressively resistant to decay, and was used as railway sleepers and trestles among other uses, but redwood forests were clear-felled not least because of tax laws that exempted all standing timber from taxation if 70% of trees in the area were harvested.

As well as being very good at surviving fire, the species thrives in flood-prone areas, growing roots up into newly deposited sediment, and growing buttresses to combat lean. The leaves are variable, being long and flat on young trees and shaded lower branches in older trees, and scalelike in full sun in the upper crown of older trees, with a full range between the two extremes. Fog condensing on the leaves provides up to 30% of their water supply each year, and they can also absorb water through the fibrous bark. Both adaptations are probably why they can reach their extreme height without the upper branches dying of thirst.

The Coast Redwood has the largest known genome of any plant examined up to the year 2020, totaling 26.5 gigabases.

Widely planted in other parts of the world. Stands planted in Victoria, Australia, for example, are thriving, and the species is naturalized in parts of New Zealand. In fact, it grows faster there than in California, mainly because of even rainfall distribution through the year.