326 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



narrow, flattened and with stiff, sharp points resembling which to ripen their seed. Redwood cones are about an 



a small lance. These leaves arrange themselves along inch long and ripen in a single season. 



the opposite sides of the branch into a flattened spray. The Bigtree bears heavy crops of seeds every few 



The second type of leaf is 

 scale-like and sharp-pointed ; 

 these closely overlap each 

 other. When they die they 

 turn reddish-brown and cling 

 to the branch a year or two 

 before falling. These leaves 

 occur irregularly on the 

 branches and vary consider- 

 ably in size, some being 

 short and closely pressed to 

 the branch, others longer 

 and with tip pointing out- 

 ward. The leaves of the 

 liigtree vary considerably in 

 size but all are sharp-pointed 

 and uniformly scale-like, 

 much like those of the cedar, 

 but longer and with more of 

 an outward spread at the 

 tips. The redwood has 

 small oval buds covered by 

 loose scales ; the buds of the 

 Bigtree have no covering of 

 scales. 



Late in the winter while 

 the snow is still on the 

 ground, the Secjuoia flowers 

 appear. The pollen bearing 

 flowers are little scaly bodies 

 about a quarter of an inch 

 long, borne singly at the tip 

 of the twig. These tinv, pale- 

 yellow flowers are inconspic- 

 uous until they begin to send 

 out clouds of bright yellow 

 pollen. The seed-producing 

 flowers are also borne singly 

 at the ends of the twigs. At 

 first they are small and pale 

 green, but they mature into 

 egg-shaped cones composed 

 of thick woody scales close! v 

 packed together. Four to 

 seven little brown seeds, sur- 

 rounded by small gauzy 

 wings, are borne under each 

 cone scale. The cones re- 

 main on the trees until early 

 winter ; in the meantime the 

 seeds are gradually shed. 

 The cones of the Bigtree are 

 larger than those of the red- 

 wood, sometimes being more 

 than ?: inches long, and 

 they recjuire two years in 



A STURDY KO.AD SENTINEL 



For ages before the road was built this great tree stood sentinel 



on the hillside awaiting the coming of man who built the road 



and so brought its lordly form within close view of the 

 traveler. 



years, and the seed has mod- 

 erately strong germinating 

 power. Contrary to general 

 belief, it is not uncommon 

 to find Bigtree seedlings. 

 The seed grows best where 

 a forest fire has burned the 

 refuse and exposed the bare 

 soil; under such conditions, 

 an average of 9 to 10 seed- 

 lings per square foot has 

 been found. Under favora- 

 ble conditions, the seedlings 

 may reach a height of 6 

 feet in as many years, and at 

 40 years old it may grow to 

 be GO feet high and a foot in 

 diameter. Its ordinary 

 growth is much slower, but 

 it continues developing 

 steadily for centuries. By 

 counting the rings, it is 

 known that the Bigtree may 

 reach the age of at least 

 4,000 years, and it is thought 

 by some that the age of some 

 of the trees now standing 

 may be 5,000 years. The 

 Bigtree does not thrive at 

 any stage of its growth if it 

 does not have an abundance 

 of sunlight, and prefers to 

 grow on cool, moist, sandy 

 or rocky soils, but at times it 

 is found growing on dry 

 slopes and ridges. 



The Bigtree is at home 

 between the elevations of 

 .■•),000 to 8,000 feet above sea 

 level, where the temperature 

 may fall to 12 degrees below 

 zero or rise to 100 degrees 

 ( F. ) and the annual rainfall 

 mav range between 18 and 

 (iO inches. It seldom grows 

 alone : its usual companions 

 are sugar pine, white fir, 

 and in the northern part of 

 its range, Douglas fir. At 

 lower elevations western yel- 

 low pine and incense cedar 

 grow with it. 



A single Bigtree may con- 

 tain more than 100,000 board 

 feet of lumber. Twenty of 

 the largest trees in the Cala- 



