THE SEQUOIAS OR BIG TREES 43 



than a fourth of these seeds are viable (or will sprout in other words). 

 It makes up in a measure for this lack of seed vitality by sprouting 

 rapidly and abundantly from either old or young stumps, or wind 

 broken tops— a habit almost unique among conifers. The height 

 of large redwoods ranges from 200 to 350 feet in exceptional cases. 

 The average is less, and the usual trunk diameter of large trees is 

 10 to 15 feet, although widths of as much as 28 feet have been 

 recorded. Little is known of its longevity. A large tree whose 

 rings were counted by the Forest Service showed 1373 which are 

 quite likely to represent annual rings in a region of rainy winters 

 and dry summers. 



The leaves are fiat and two ranked on the twigs, not unlike those 

 of the bald cyj^ress of our eastern swamps but stiff er and decurrent 

 at their bases. The wood is heavier than that of its brother the 

 big tree, very soft, moderately fine grained, exceedingly brittle, 

 and a purplish clear red-brown in color. It is of great commercial 

 importance because of its ease of working, its very great durability 

 and the large sizes of clear wood obtainable, so that the redwood 

 no less than its brother is in great need of ofilicial protection to pre- 

 vent its being lumbered entirely off of the face of the earth, and 

 there is a rising volume of popular protest against its destruction. 



The big tree is much more limited in individuals and in range 

 than the redwood, occurring only as scattered groves on the western 

 slopes of the Sierra Nevadas from southern Placer to Tulare county, 

 Cahfornia, generally at elevations of from 5000 to 8500 feet in the 

 Sierra fog belt. The leaves are more needle-like and less spreading 

 than those of the redwood, running round the twig and not arranged 

 in two apparent rows on opposite sides. The cones are shghtly 

 larger, but still tiny for so great a tree. The dimensions of the 

 big trees are popularly much overestimated. Usually, mature 

 trees average about 275 to 300 feet tall and with a trunk diameter 

 of about 20 feet. Occasionally they reach heights 50 to 75 feet 

 greater and diameters of 35 feet. They are therefore normally 

 about 75 feet taller than the average old redwood, and with a 

 trunk almost twice as massive. The big tree produce abundant 

 seed at short intervals interspersed with especially heavy seed 



