Sequoia (Bud)

The Giant Sequoia surpasses all records, the largest measuring 83 m in height or 25 m in circumference, weighing an average of 1,200 tons, being over 3,000 years old and existing for 200 million years.

Fossils attest to its presence throughout the northern hemisphere, but the only survivors of the last Ice Age are found on the western slopes of California’s Sierra Nevada, where it enjoys altitude, humidity and light.

The specimens visible in Europe were all planted after 1850. Planted in the parks of castles and manor houses, they ostentatiously displayed the social status and success of their owners during the Industrial Revolution.

Their trunks are widened at the base, their reddish bark is fibrous and their tops rounded. The spiral needles are awl-shaped, spreading out from the stem.

The inconspicuous yellowish male flowers are located at the tip of the twigs, while the ovoid females are borne on a small, scaly stalk. The fruit is a cone that matures in 2 years, then waits patiently for the heat of a summer or fire to release its 200 winged seeds.

As an adult, a Giant Sequoia has a powerful reproductive capacity, bearing 10,000 cones a year, which represents over 300,000 seeds to be dispersed over a radius of 2 km.

Impressive, like everything else about it!

With all its attributes, it symbolizes virility and evokes strength, energy and perseverance.

For the Amerindians, it’s the center of the world, under which all animal breeds are grouped.