Sequoia sempervirens (), the coast redwood, is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family, Cupressaceae. Other common names include coastal redwood and California redwood. It is a coniferous, long-lived, monoecious tree that has reached ages of about 2,000 years. The species has produced the tallest living trees on Earth, reaching up to 116.22 m (381.3 ft) in height (without the roots) and up to 8.9 m (29 ft) in diameter at breast height. These trees are also among the longest-living trees on Earth.
Before commercial logging and clearing began by the 1850s, this massive tree occurred naturally in an estimated 810,000 ha (2,000,000 acres) along much of coastal California (excluding southern California where rainfall is not sufficient) and the southwestern corner of coastal Oregon within the United States. Being the tallest tree species, with a small range and an extremely long lifespan, many redwoods are preserved in various state and national parks; many of the largest specimens have their own official names.
Description
The coast redwood normally reaches a height of 60 to 100 m (200 to 330 ft), but can be more than 110 m (360 ft) in some cases, with a trunk diameter of 9 m (30 ft). Historically, the American naturalist, physician and founder member of the California Academy of Sciences, William P. Gibbons (1812–1897) described in 1893 the hollow shell of a coast redwood in the Oakland Hills of Alameda County with diameter of 9.9 metres (32 ft) at breast height. This tree's girth is rivalled by the "Fieldbrook Stump" of Humboldt County with a diameter of 9.8 metres (32 ft) at 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) from the ground. This stump is still intact, with numerous healthy basal shoots encircling it.
Coast redwoods have a conical crown, with horizontal to slightly drooping branches. The trunk is remarkably straight. The bark can be very thick, up to 35 cm (1.15 ft), and quite soft and fibrous, with a...
