(Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) Buchholz)
Habitus
- a massive tree, which in its natural habitat can grow to a height of more than 100 m (on average 50 - 80 m)
- the crown is broadly conical at a young age, deeply branched, the branches grow along the spiral, they stand horizontally
- the bark is reddish-brown
- the bork is thick (30 - 50 cm), deeply cracked , soft, flexible, cinnamon red-brown, falling in thin strips, to a considerable moderately resistant to fire
Leaves (assimilation organs)
- assimilation organs are needle-like arranged along a whorl, they are twofold:
- on the main shoots they are spear-shaped, sharply pointed, 10 - 15 x 1 mm in size, in the lower part they are adjacent to the branch, but the spike deviate from it
- on the side shoots are egg-shaped, pointed, scaly, 3 - 6 x 1 mm in size, the tip deviates slightly from the branch
- they are gray-green to bluish-green, in autumn turning brown
- they last 4 - 5 years
Flowers
- monoecious tree, flowers of various sexes, cone-shaped
- ♀ cones are broadly ovoid, 6 - 10 x 4 - 7 mm large, composed of 25 - 40 seed scales that end with a longer spine - they are green, sessile, grow at the end of the shoots, mature in 2 years, in the 1st year they are upright and in the 2nd year they hang down
Fruits – seeds
- the fruit is a cone 4 - 8 x 3 - 5 cm in size , ovoid to elliptical
- seed scales are firm, woody
- labellum is oblong-rhombic, in medium shallowly depressed
- it opens in the spring of the 3rd year
- the seed is 3-6 mm long, ellipsoidal, compressed, covered with a narrow wing, which is slightly notched in the upper part.
Extension
- it originally grows in the western part of the North American continent in California on the western slopes of the mountains Sierra Nevada from 1,400 to 2,600 m above the sea level in an area with a relatively cold climate, but with a high amount of annual precipitation (oceanic climate with an annual precipitation of 1,500-2,000 mm)
- it was introduced to Europe in 1854
Ecology
- it grows on deep, fresh soils at the bottom of valleys
- it tolerates moderate shading when young, later it is a light-loving tree
- it freezes in severe frosts, but relatively well regenerates
- loss of fog currently threatens redwoods
Significance
- it is an important, decorative, relatively fast-growing tree with an impressive habit
- different forms are also known
- mammoth redwood is among the largest living organisms in the world, an example is an individual also called "General Scherman" with the following parameters (data valid in 2002):
- age 2,300 - 2,700 years
- estimated weight trunk approx. 1385 t.
- height 83.8m
- volume 1487 m3
- circumference of the trunk at the ground 31.3 m
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