Giant Sequoia
Sequoiadendron giganteum · Plant
Giant sequoias are the most massive single trees on Earth. They grow naturally only in scattered groves on the western slopes of California’s Sierra Nevada, and some have lived for more than 3,000 years.
Key facts
- Scientific name
- Sequoiadendron giganteum
- Kind
- Plant
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN EN)
- Habitat
- Mountain conifer forest
- Range
- Sierra Nevada, California
- Size
- Up to about 95 m tall
- Weight
- ≈ 1,900 t (largest tree, est.)
- Lifespan
- 3,000+ years
- Diet
- Photosynthesis
- Activity
- Evergreen · fire-adapted
- Population
- About 70 natural groves
Diet
Makes its own food through photosynthesis. Its shallow, wide-spreading roots collect snowmelt from the mountain soil.
Behavior
Thick, fire-resistant bark protects old trees, and the heat of low-intensity fires opens their cones and clears the ground so seedlings can grow.
Classification
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Phylum
- Tracheophyta
- Class
- Pinopsida
- Order
- Pinales
- Family
- Cupressaceae
- Genus
- Sequoiadendron
- Species
- S. giganteum
Conservation
Severe wildfires in 2020–2021 killed an estimated 13–19% of all large giant sequoias. Forest managers now use prescribed burns to reduce fuel.
Main threats
- Extreme wildfires
- Drought
- Climate change