Giant Sequoia

Our featured plant in the What’s Happening in Our Watershed project for August is the Giant Sequoia. We all know that our watershed neighbor, the Giant Sequoia (or Sierra Redwood), can grow to be the largest trees in the world, but they begin life as some of the smallest of conifer seeds. Like the mustard seed parable of God’s miraculous kingdom, sequoias begin life as a tiny seed the size of an oatmeal flake. It takes a sequoia seedling a thousand years or more of just the right environment to grow into an ancient, magnificent giant.

The species is also an icon of an ancient creation that existed long before us – redwood fossils are found across the Northern Hemisphere. As ancient climates slowly changed, redwood species were forced to migrate to find suitable habitat. Our watershed is now the only place where it grows naturally – only in the southern Sierra Nevada just where: winter weather is cold enough for some winter snow to fall, but not too much; soils are deep enough to keep great roots moist, but not too wet; surface fires are just hot enough to burn away dead needles and twigs and expose rich mineral soil, but not so intense as to burn into the canopy of the giants.

Climate change and other environmental challenges now threaten sequoia existence. Giant Sequoias remind us of the beauty, grandeur, and antiquity of creation even as they also remind us of the need for human stewardship.

The line drawing below was created by Mady Neufeld. You’re welcome to print out and color the image below. You can also download the file here. For additional information, including photographs and range maps, visit the California Native Plant Society.