American Forestry 



VOL. XXII 



JUNE, 1916 



No. 270 



The Redwoods 



Identification and Characteristics 

 By Samuel B. Detwiler 



Father, Thy hand 



Hath reared these venerable columns . . . 

 . . . They stand, massy, and tall, and dark, 



Fit shrine for humble worshipper to hold 

 Communion with his Maker. 



Bryant. 



THE Bigtree, sometimes called the giant redwood 

 (Sequoia Washingtoniana), and the redwood 

 (Sequoia sent pervir ens) , are the most magnifi- 

 cently proportioned trees in the world. So impressive are 

 the forests of these gigantic trees that they are justly 

 ranked among the chief natural wonders of America. 

 There are a few trees in the world that have attained 

 greater diameters and some that grow to greater heights, 

 but no other tree with a trunk of huge size rises so grace- 

 fully to the majestic height of the Sequoias. 



Sequoia, as the Bigtree and Redwood are 

 classified botanically, is an Indian name given in 

 honor of Sequoyah, the inventor of the Cherokee 

 alphabet. Ages ago, Sequoias grew in what is 

 now the Arctic Zone. Today only 

 two kinds of Sequoias are in exist- 

 ence and their nearest living rela- 

 tive is the bald cypress, found in 

 the Southern United States. 



The principal body of redwood 

 extends through the coast region 

 of California to Monterey County, 

 and some grow in the extreme 

 southwest corner of Oregon. It is 

 rarely found further than 20 to 30 

 miles from the ocean and 

 is limited to localities 

 where heavy sea fogs are 

 frequent. It grows prin- 

 cipally on the western 

 slopes of the coast moun- 

 tains from sea level to 

 2,500 feet eleva- 

 tion, or in the 

 southern part of r^^T fSSSS&cfiS'gSS^f 



its range, Up to U **^ Showing a branch with cones attached 



and the leaf buds 



3,000 feet, but not at higher altitudes. The Bigtree 

 is confined to about 50 square miles of territory in 

 central California, on the western side of the Sierra 

 Mountains. Other kinds of trees are numbered 

 by the millions, but the Bigtrees are so rare that a list 

 of trees of any considerable size would contain but few 

 thousand entries. Except for occasional stragglers, the 

 Bigtrees are grouped in small groves or well-defined 

 forests as indicated in the table accompanying this article. 

 These venerable trees inspired John Muir, and to 

 him we are indebted for words that express the profound 

 emotions felt by thousands who have viewed these 

 mighty lords of the forests and learned that "there may 

 be worship without words." Describing the "Giant For- 

 est" of the Kaweah basin, 

 he writes : "When I entered 

 the sublime wilderness the 

 day was nearly done, the 

 trees with rosy, glowing 

 countenances 

 seemed to be 

 hushed and 

 thoughtful, as 

 if waiting in 

 conscious re- 

 ligious d e- 

 pendence on 

 the sun, and one naturally 

 walked softly and awe- 

 stricken among them. I 

 wandered on, meeting nobler 

 trees where all are noble, 

 subdued in the general calm, 

 as if in some vast hall pervaded by the 

 deepest sanctities and solemnities that 

 sway human souls." 



The distinction between the Bigtree 

 and the redwood is best impressed by 

 again quoting from John Muir: "The red- 

 wood is the glory of the coast range. It 

 extends along the western slope, in a nearly 

 continuous belt about 10 miles wide, from! 

 beyond the Oregon boundary to the south 

 of Santa Cruz, a distance of nearly four 



323 



the seed 



