The Giant Sequoia Tree - Nature's Largest Living Thing
If you have never seen one it is quite a site to behold. The Giant Sequoia tree is truly a marvel of nature. The tree can grow to a height of over 300 feet and some can have a diameter of over 30 feet at their base. Some Giant Sequoias are known to be over 3,200 years old making them among the oldest living organisms on the planet.
The trees have are only found in their natural environment in the western Sierra Nevada mountains in California. Experimental plantings have been started in places such as Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New York and Vermont, but of course none of these trees even comes close to the size of the ones you will find in California.
I have had the privilege to see the Grizzly Giant in the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park and it is incredible. The base measures 28 feet in diameter and the first branch on the tree is about 100 feet up and is 6 feet in diameter. Here are some pictures of Giant Sequoias below taken by various people and posted at Flickr.com. Enjoy them, but try to make a trip to California some day to see the real thing.
These are the leafs of a living fossil. It's botanical name is Metasequoia glyptostroboides better known as Dawn Redwood. Beginning in 1948 the Dawn Redwood was recreated based on DNA-Analysis from fossils.
