Flora of North America species comparison

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Sequoiadendron giganteum

Sequoiadendron

bigtree, giant redwood, giant sequoia, redwood, Sierra-redwood, Sierran redwood

giant sequoia
Habit Trees to 90 m; trunk to 11 m diam.; crown conic and monopodial when young, narrowed and somewhat rounded in age. Trees giant, evergreen.
Bark

reddish brown, to ca. 60 cm thick, fibrous, ridged and furrowed.

Branches

generally horizontal to downward-sweeping with upturned ends.

Branchlets

terete.
Leaves

generally with stomates on both surfaces, the free portion to ca. 15 mm.

alternate, radiating.
Adult leaves

mostly needlelike, triangular in cross section, somewhat divergent to strongly appressed;

abaxial glands absent.
Pollen cones

nearly globose to ovoid, 4–8 mm.

with 12–20 sporophylls, each sporophyll with 2–5 pollen sacs.
Seed(s)

cones 4–9 cm.

cones maturing and opening in 2 years, persistent to 20 years, oblong;

scales persistent, 25–45, valvate, ± peltate, thick and woody.
x

= 11.
2n

= 22.

Sequoiadendron giganteum

Sequoiadendron
Habitat Mixed montane coniferous forests, in isolated groves on the w slopes of the Sierra Nevada
Elevation 900–2700 m (3000–8900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
Only in the flora
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Mature individuals of this species are the most voluminous living organisms and among the most long-lived trees. Sequoiadendron giganteum was formerly included in Sequoia, under the later homonym Sequoia gigantea (Lindley) Decaisne, a conservative placement that still has merit (J. Doyle 1945; O. Schwarz and H. Weide 1962).

Redwood, including Sequoiadendron giganteum and Sequoia sempervirens, is the state tree of California.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Species 1.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2. FNA vol. 2. Author: Frank D. Watson.
Parent taxa Cupressaceae > Sequoiadendron Cupressaceae
Subordinate taxa
S. giganteum
Synonyms Wellingtonia gigantea, Sequoia gigantea
Name authority (Lindley) J. Buchholz: Amer. J. Bot. 26: 536. (1939) J. Buchholz: Amer. J. Bot. 26: 536. (1939)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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