1660 



SEQUOIA 



SEQUOIA 



lint cut off, swept away and destroyed by the glacial age 

 until only the local conditions prevailing in the Coast 

 Range and Sierras of California preserved the two re- 

 maining species to the present time. According to 

 Gray, S. Langsdorfii, the Sequoia which is found in 

 the miocene in Europe, appears in the miocene of 

 Alaska, Greenland, Spitzbergen and Iceland, and it 

 much resembles S. ^, 

 aempervireus. An- 

 other fossil species, 

 S. Sternbergii, found 

 in Greenland, seems 

 to have been the an- 

 cient representative 

 of S. giganiea. Ac- 

 cordmgtothemvesti 

 gations of the United ^" ^o - 



States Geological Department the wood 

 of the -^rizoni, petrified forest is that of 

 a species of lequoia whose wood went 

 down under a primeval sea, was covered 

 with sandstone and rose i^am into the 

 present continent If f i n I lin \ ling 

 ago these things h i] i II ' gi 



swers Millions of \ \ i 



m regard to the pen 1 1 '^ 

 Greenland Siberia ii 1 i i I 1 

 measure that period ( iilj I > % is 

 epochs But the \ ihie and inte 

 quoias are greatlj increased b-s a 

 their pi tie is til lit m dtrn ■ 

 pom it I 1 1 I 1 I 



At tl I lit Redwood occupies only 



a 1 11 I 1 the ocean nor is it con 



tinu 1 I tl I lit Redwood, or California 



sts iiIn 111 a tl w small and isolated groves 

 ill less than faft\ square miles along the 

 western si le f the Sierra Ne\ id \ range Compared 

 with the enoi nic us territoi y oni p op iipie 1 b^ species of 

 Sequoias the m dein repres i t tu t f) incient 



and boil iral le f imily are re 1 i I! area 



The hrst kno« n of the Se i 1 more 



valuable speii 



While , 



Big 



the 



the 



and n I I I 1 tl 



Pacihc coist 11 i ] I I I ti\c I w rs t tt e tree aie 

 enormous no other known ooniter so persistently 

 sprouts from the stump so rapidly makes new forest 

 or so well resists fire But it does not thri\ e farther 

 inland than the limits of the sea fog and a large part 

 of the original area covered b\ this nc hie tree has been 

 denuded by successive fires and destructive lumbering 

 methods Small Redwood forests occur m Monterey 

 county, but the most southern forests of commercial 

 importance are in Santa Cruz. The belt, broken by the 

 Bay of San Francisco, extends north through Marin, 

 Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte to the 

 southern bordi-rs i.f Oregon. Tlic n-:il Rcdwi.oil forests 

 are all cont.iin' .1 w iiliin n -i rli. ..r ,■..:,- 1 1:iih1~ "(in miles 

 long ;iri>l r;.r. ' . . m :1 .... 'r. ,,,- ■■;, n:;|, . :,],.. The 

 actii.-il Ih„Ii, - ..: i:. ! . . i :,l .., il,i i. i ..i uv merely 



a ehiiiii nt I..MI I ,.i,,. ., j., I ,;, ,1 I,. ,• 1,-s or by 



large iiiras on v.lji.i, U..: - o. ..r _m .; . A small 



grove, now practically .1, .t)->r,l. ,-..:.u.{ lii n >,ai-s ago 

 on the cast side of fin- l'..i\ oi S: n I immi-co. in Ala- 

 meda county. Well-lioi-fv, ii;i\r loiiiMi l;,il\MHi.l logs in 

 a perfect state of prcsirv.it ion in various part.s of the 

 Coast Range far south of where the tree now grows, 

 even to Los Angeles and San Diego, showing that in 

 some former period of greater rainfall and more sea-fog. 

 Redwood forests extended much farther along the coast. 

 The .Vniiii \>I,.i.. the Redwood thrives is compara- 

 tive! \ < I I 1 ■ 'd by cool summer winds from the 

 soutli\,. i: .!■ delights in rich, sheltered moun- 

 tain \:i'o \^ .([Ml hri ill., slopes, in dripping fogs and in 

 heavy wmiei rams. Going east from the ocean, in the 

 Redwood region, one suddenly comes to the top of a 

 ridge, to overlook oaks and pines, and at once reaches 

 the plainly marked edge of the Sequoia sempervirens 

 forest. 



irii-e)is is sometimes called seeond in 

 size anion-' the i.'iaMt i-onifers of the Pacific coast, the 

 tallest tre. y. i auili. iitirally measured was 340 ft. high, 

 exceedin- m li. i-hi tie- tallest of the Sierra species, and 

 it is probal.l.- that tree- exist which rise to nearly 400 ft. 



and so deserve to take the tirvt |ilaer an u' the conifers. 



Many trees of 20 and even i;j ti . in diahn ii r at five feet 

 from the ground, and from :;o(i i,, ::j., n in height, are 

 still standing in the Redwooil i^i, -iv, Tlio finest groves 

 of Redwoods contain many .~i.i-einiens that range from 

 1:J0 to 250 ft. or more in height and have a diameter of 

 from 12 to 18 ft. In such forests the trunks rise in clear, 

 red-brown shafts to a height of from 75 to 150 ft. before 

 they branch; they stand so close that the masses of 

 timber that exist on each acre are greater than are 

 found in any other known forest, and through their fai 

 distant tops the sun seldom leaches the warm sheltered 

 soil of the great Coast R-m.^e t iii ns With proper 

 management under the pin il I tihe forestr\ 



the Redwood region as it il I be main 



tained, and Its future \ K It I I but other 



wise in fort^ or fifty y i I 1 \ ilue of the 



entire area will 1 i m1 The state < t 



California has tl | uated $2o0 000 for 



the puichase ft 1 1 forest of the Big 



Basin m '^int nimission is now 



Archibald 

 I IS in 1831 

 loduccd to 



nere) i y 



It is I II he 



•Silv. I in 

 cultn 



forms 1 I I 11 

 but cannot >et 1 e e ill 1 h\c 1 \u le IIj d«ail Kid 



wood is jet extant Larger leaded or more compact 



forms can be selected from the foiest and the tree re 



sp iiids e-isih to sell tiun and cultuie It thrnes in 



>- I 1 1 tl s I 1 1 to vallev, iii the Sierra foot 



I II I I t southern California so that 



t 1 1 useb can be greatly extended 



tl I It I IS 1 en lii-(lv planted m 



Lui II I I 1 I 1 IS w IS to 



have I 1 rich soil 



near tl i 



Endl 1 I hn qt ma 



of SuiK\ 1 n 1 II 11 mn md of 



2319. Sequoia EiEantea(X K 



Sargent) is undoubtedly one of the rarest of all living 

 species of trees, and one of the most easily visited and 

 studied. It is the best living representative of a geologic 

 age long passed away. Besides this, it is the most im- 

 pressive and noble of all known trees. But nearly all 

 of the small remaining group of Big Trees exceiit the 

 Mariposa groves are owned by private individuals and 

 are being cut down or may at some future time be de- 



