Plant
Redwood
Sequoia sempervirens
Also known as: Sequoia sempervirens, coast redwood, Sequoiadendron giganteum, giant sequoia, Sierra redwood
Two related but distinct conifers of California: the **coast redwood** (*Sequoia sempervirens*), the tallest tree species on Earth — reaching 115+ m — restricted to a narrow fog belt along the Pacific coast from southern Oregon to central California; and the **giant sequoia** (*Sequoiadendron giganteum*), the most massive tree species by trunk volume — though shorter than coast redwoods — confined to ~75 groves on the western slope of the central Sierra Nevada. Both are among the longest-lived organisms on Earth, with individuals over 3,000 years old. A third member of the subfamily, the **dawn redwood** (*Metasequoia glyptostroboides*), was known only from fossils until live trees were discovered in Hubei, China in 1944.
Scientific
Three genera, all subfamily Sequoioideae within family Cupressaceae:
- Sequoia sempervirens — coast redwood. Tallest tree species on Earth; Hyperion, the current record holder, is 115.92 m. Confined to a coastal fog belt ~750 km long and rarely more than 50 km inland, from the Oregon-California border south to the Santa Lucia Range in Monterey County. Resprouts from the base after fire or felling — a rare trait among conifers — and produces clonal “fairy rings” of trunks around long-dead parents.
- Sequoiadendron giganteum — giant sequoia. Most massive tree species on Earth by trunk volume; General Sherman is ~1,487 m³. ~75 disjunct groves on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada between 1,400 and 2,150 m elevation. Does not resprout — depends on periodic low-intensity fire to expose mineral soil for germination.
- Metasequoia glyptostroboides — dawn redwood. The only deciduous member of the subfamily. Known only from fossils until 1944 when live trees were located in a Hubei (China) village; now widely planted globally as an ornamental.
All three are extraordinarily long-lived. The oldest known coast redwood is over 2,500 years old; the oldest known giant sequoia (President) is estimated at over 3,200 years.
Cultural
The coast redwood and giant sequoia forests sit on the ancestral lands of numerous Indigenous peoples — Yurok, Hupa, Karuk, Tolowa, Wiyot, Pomo, Coast Miwok along the coast; Western Mono (Monache), Yokuts, Tübatulabal in the Sierra Nevada — for whom these forests have been central to lifeway, ceremony, and material culture for thousands of years. Yurok and neighboring nations built redwood-plank houses and dugout canoes from fallen coast-redwood logs (live felling was rare). Late-19th and early-20th-century industrial logging removed ~95% of old-growth coast redwood; the surviving 5% is now protected within Redwood National and State Parks and a handful of additional reserves. The “Save the Redwoods” movement (1918) catalyzed much of modern American old-growth conservation.
The giant sequoia groves became a focal landscape of the early U.S. national park system: Sequoia National Park (1890), the second-oldest U.S. national park, was created specifically to protect them.
Conservation status
Coast redwood is IUCN-listed Endangered; giant sequoia, Endangered. Both face increasing pressure from climate-driven drought, fog reduction (for coast redwood), and extreme wildfire (for giant sequoia — the 2020 Castle Fire and 2021 KNP Complex Fire killed 13–19% of all mature giant sequoias). Dawn redwood is Endangered in its native Chinese range despite global ornamental abundance.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Shares approach with: [[cedar]]
- Member of: [[plants]]
Sources
- Save the Redwoods League — population and conservation data
- IUCN Red List — Sequoia sempervirens, Sequoiadendron giganteum, Metasequoia glyptostroboides
- Wikipedia — Redwood, Coast redwood, Giant sequoia
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