Giant Trees - The Giant Sequoias

15 days ago

What is the largest tree you have ever seen. Is it the iroko, baobab, sycamore, mahogany, or the teak tree? If you believe any of these trees are large, you are right because truly they are large but have you heard about the giant sequoias? In case you haven’t heard about this giant tree that has lived on our planet for longest of time, allow me to discuss the Giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum).

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With a height of about 150ft to 300ft, with the largest in recent times being 295ft which is as tall as the Statue of Liberty but their gigantic feature doesn’t end there. It is the heaviest and the thickest tree there is like one of it named General Grant is the largest of it in diameter, measuring about 8.8 meters which is about 29ft while another tree named General Sherman holds the title for the largest living single stem tree on planet Earth with a height of 84m and a diameter of 7.7m, not as wide as General grant but surely large with a weight estimate of 2000 tons.

The tree is found in mountains at altitudes of 1000 to 2000 meters and like very humid conditions. When rhey grow at lower altitudes they are susceptible to parasites and fungus. In addition to their majestic structure, they are also able to withstand fire and so would rely on wildfire to kill their conpetitions and they also spread their seeds immediately after a fire outbreak in the wild and this can be helpful for the seed as it would grow without other plants competing with it for nutrients. Because they need a lot of water, they only hrow naturally near streams and ofher body of water.

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This tree can live for up to 1000 years or more and only one type of tree has been said to live for more than 5000 years which is the great basin bristlecone pine. There is one thing that both giant sequoias and the great basin briatlecone pine have in common and that’s their location because they both are found naturally in California. Currently, there are only about 81 grooves in the wild and this is a bad news because this puts it in the list of endangered species.

People have tried to grow the Giant Sequoias outside California, and so the tree is found in Canada, Australia, The United Kingdom, France, and New Zealand. This tree although old, is very unique and holds significant importance. Before i go, do you know that Giant Sequoias are relative of the hyperion trees which is a coastal sequoia (coastal redwood). The hyperion tree is the tallest tree in the world which is a part of the Sequoia family.