CHAPTER NINETEEN 



SEQUOIAS AND CYPRESS 



THE sequoias are named 

 after Sequoyah, a Cherokee 

 chief. They surpass all other 

 trees in size, and only the 

 eucalyptus trees of Australia 

 equal or exceed them in 

 height. There are two species 

 of sequoia, the redwood of 

 our Pacific coast and the Big 

 Tree which is found only in 

 a few groves in California. 

 The cypress of our Southern 

 states is the largest conifer 

 in the eastern part of North 

 America, but it is not so 

 large as the giant sequoias 

 of the West. 



The redwood. The red- 

 wood grows only near the 

 coast, where the air is kept 

 moist by fogs from the ocean. 

 It attains a height of from 

 200 to 340 feet. The wood 

 is soft and light, and resem- 

 bles some kinds of cedar in 

 color, but it can be distin- 

 guished from cedar woods by the lack of any odor or 

 taste. From the forests in California and southern 

 Oregon redwood shingles are transported thousands of 



116 



U. S. Forest Service 

 FIG. 76. Giant sequoia or Big 

 Tree. The trees shown in the 

 background are very tall pines 

 and firs. 



