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What Are Large Redwoods & Sequoias?

Technically, a large redwood and sequoia are the same -- the sequoia sempervirens is the California or Coast redwood tree. A large specimen of this tree would be both the tallest and one of the oldest living beings on earth. The tree was named for Sequoia (Sequoyah), a Cherokee chief and scholar who invented an alphabet for the Cherokee language.

Flowers, Cones and Seeds
- The redwood is found in the forests of Northern California and into Oregon. The flowers appear in autumn and open in February at the tips of new shoots. The males are yellow or brown and about 1/4 inch long and the green female flowers are about the same size. They ripen into small cones. The tree has both male and female flowers on the same plant. The seeds of the redwood are, ironically, tiny. Each seed is only 1/4 of an inch long, and weighs only about 4 mg, with wings that carry it aloft when the cone dries out and opens. The tree grows easily and quickly from seeds. It also grows from sprouts or burls of redwood stumps. The tree can even be grown under glass, via cuttings.
Habit and Lumber
- The redwood tree grows in a sort of irregular pyramid. The needles are small and arranged in whorls, and have three resin canals. The wood of the redwood is soft, spongy, furrowed and bright orange-red. It's used in construction of homes and garden furniture. It's beautiful even without any sort of finish, and will naturally weather to a silvery gray over time. It's resistant to termites and decay.
Height
- The redwood can grow to 400 feet tall, though few are allowed to get anywhere close to that because of cultivation. The tallest redwood on record was about 367 feet tall. They can live for thousands of years.
Sequoiadendron
- Sequoiadendron, or the California Big Tree, or Wellingtonia, is closely related to the redwood. At one time scientists believed the two trees belonged in the same genus. The big tree doesn't grow as tall as the redwood does, and unlike the redwood prefers to grow singly. The tree is more cold resistant than the redwood. Like the redwood the leaves are tiny and scalelike, the fruit and cones are small, but the big tree's trunk is thicker than the redwood's. The tree will often be bare of limbs for up to a hundred feet before the first branches appear. When the foliage is crushed it gives off an anise smell. Though the big tree has a small range it will grow well in any cool and humid climate and can grow as a garden tree if there's room for it. The big tree also can live for thousands of years.

Nature