The sequoia

The biggest tree in the world by amount of wood is the General Sherman (above), in Sequoia National Park in California, USA. This giant sequoia ranks among the oldest living things on Earth, at between 2200 and 2500 years old.

📖 In short

The sequoia is a giant tree, one of the biggest and oldest living things on Earth. It grows in the western United States; some are taller than a thirty-story building and some are thousands of years old. Its kinds have lived since the time of the dinosaurs.

🤩 Did you know?

The “General Sherman” tree is about 84 meters tall.
Some sequoias live more than 3000 years.
Giant sequoia seeds are tiny, smaller than a grain of rice!
There are two kinds of true sequoia left, and a Chinese tree closely related to them.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 The tallest trees

The coast redwood is the tallest tree in the world, and some are more than 110 meters tall! It grows near the coast, where fog keeps its leaves damp.

🔍 The biggest trees

The giant sequoia of the mountains is the biggest tree by size, and the most famous is called “General Sherman”, with a trunk so wide that twenty children holding hands can't reach around it.

💡 Fireproof bark

Sequoia bark is very thick and spongy, protecting it from forest fires. Fire even helps its cones open and release their seeds!

🎯 Protected for the future

The US government protects sequoia forests in national parks, so these great trees remain for future generations.

📸 More pictures

A young sequoia is cone-shaped (right), with branches reaching the ground. Later the lower branches fall off (middle) and the top keeps its cone shape. Most very old sequoias lose their tops to lightning, so their crowns look rounded (left).

🧩 Test yourself

1 What protects a sequoia from forest fires?

2 Where do sequoias grow?

3 The “General Sherman” tree is about ?? meters tall.

4 Which picture shows “The sequoia”?