93 



XXX. 



TAXODINE^. 



SEQUOIA. 



The Wellingtonia, S. gigantea, or " the big 

 tree," as it is called in the land of its birth, is 

 a native of California, and flourishes singly and 

 in groves along the Western slopes of the Sierra 

 Nevada Mountains. Though not so tall as the 

 eucalypts or gum trees of Tasmania, in height 

 and girth combined it is believed to be the largest 

 tree on the face of the earth. 



American botanists, perhaps not unreasonably, 

 resent, as they say, " a British name, however 

 " meritoriously honoured, being applied to the 

 " most remarkable and gigantic vegetable wonder 

 " which is indigenous to their country — the only 

 " locality in the world where it is found." 



S. gigantea is said to attain a great age. The 

 specimens we have over here certainly do not 

 look like coming to any particular size, but it 

 probably takes many generations tor a foreign 

 tree to acclimatise itself properly in this country, 



