I l//;A7r M.V MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 



THE SEQUOIA 



IT is liHiiio that the cnlraiicc to 

 the Hall ol' Noilli Anicricaii 

 Forestry should Ix* flanked on 

 cither hand hy the Redwood and 

 Secjiioia. Not onl\' aic these the 

 noblest of trees, hut they are strictly 

 North American trees and their name 

 ix'rpetuates that of the old dierokee 

 Chieftain Seeciuoyah. 



It is with the Secjuoia, however, that 

 we are concerned, the ^;reatest and 

 ])r()])al)ly oldest of livin<i; trees, al- 

 thou<2;li its claims to anticjuity are now 

 and then (lisi)uted by some claimant 

 like th(^ Bo-tree or sacred fi^' of Ceylon, 

 a scion of the trcH^ under which 

 Gautama Buddha sat when he attained 

 Nirvana, wliich has a recorded history 

 of a little over 2200 years. 



Another ''oldest inhabitant" is, or 

 was, the great dragon tree of Teneriffe, 

 Avliich, when blown down in 1868 was 

 "estimated" to be 6000 years old. 

 Estimates, lik(^ artists, are however 

 unreliable and this age is given for 

 what it is Avorth. 



Still another ancient of days, or 

 years, is the cypress of Santa IXIaria, 

 Tule, Mexico, which, according to 

 Frederick Starr has a circumference of 

 one hundnnl and sixty feet, four feet 

 above* th(* ground. It is howTver very 

 irregular in outline and is possibly 

 lornKul by the union of three trunks. 



The ScHjUoia is not cmly the oldest of 

 trees, but the mightiest and Avhih^ from 

 time to time there have Ixhmi r(*])orts of 

 rivals in Australia, 3'et these rivals 

 when brought to the ultimate test, 

 that of the tai)e line, have shrunk 

 before it, leaving the Sequoia the 

 monarch of them all. 



The Kauri Tine of New Zealand, so 

 fai- as size goes is a really dangerous 

 rival, and two examples are on record 

 having respectively diameters of 

 twenty-four and twenty-two feet, and 

 estimated ages of 1396 and 1280 

 yeai's. 



Tlu' following are the measurements 

 of a few of the largest trees in the 

 ])rincipal groves; thoudi of little value 

 for c()mi)arative i)urj)oses, they serve 

 to give an idea of the vast ])r()portions 

 of the Big Trees: 



A. Tuolumne Grove, diameter at 3 feet 



above ground, 

 23 feet. 



B. Fresno Grove, circumference at 



3 feet above 

 ground, 81 feet. 



C. King's River Grove, circumference 



near the 

 ground 11 6 

 feet, height 276 

 feet. 



D. " " " diameter (with- 



out bark) at 

 120 feet above 

 ground, 13 feet 

 2 inches. 



E. Calaveras Grove, (dead, without 



bark) diameter 

 at 6 feet above 

 ground, 25 feet, 

 height 302 feet; 

 circumference 

 at ground, 96 

 feet. 



F. " " (dead, without 



bark) circum- 

 ference at base 

 84 feet, height 

 321 feet. 



