SEQUOIA 



509 



in old trees commences at 100 to 150 ft. from the ground, and consists of 

 comparatively short, horizontal or drooping branches. The final ramifications 

 of the branches are much divided, the ends forming a dense, bushy cluster 

 of branchlets. Leaves varying in length from J to | in. long, but always 

 more or less awl-shaped, triangular in section, tapering from the broad base 

 (by which it is attached to, and extends down the branchlet) to a fine point. 

 They are blue-green and always point forward, adhering for four or five 

 years to the branchlet, which in the early stages they completely cover. 

 Cones ii to 3 ins. long, ij to 2 ins. wide; seeds pale shining brown, | to J in. 

 long, flattened. 



Native of the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, California, at 5000 to 

 8000 ft. elevation. The "big trees" appear to have first been discovered 



SEQUOIA GIGANTEA. 



about the middle of the nineteenth century by hunters and wandering 

 pioneers. A man named John Bidwell is credited with being the first 

 European to see them in 1841. Seeds were first sent to England in 1853 

 by Mr J. D. Matthews, and by Veitch's collector, \V511iam Lobb. The news 

 of its discovery had created an extraordinary interest over the whole 

 civilised world, and the Wellingtonia (as it had been named by Lindley) 

 was eagerly sought after for nearly all gardens of this country. In many 

 places, as might be expected, it proved a failure, but in many others a great 

 success. As a young tree and up to fifty or sixty years of age, it forms a 

 regular pyramid, furnished to the ground with foliage. In this state it makes 

 an imposing avenue, of which there is a fine example at Linton Park, in Kent. 

 The average increase in height in favourable places (it likes a mild climate, 

 good soil, and shelter) has been i- to 2 ft. per annum, and the annual layers 

 of wood f to I in. wide. (See plate, vol. i., p. 10.) 



This tree is one of the marvels of the Vegetable Kingdom, and in bulk, if 

 not m height, surpasses all other of the world's trees. Some of the giants of the 



