Sequoia

Almost not inferior to eucalyptus in height coniferous trees of North America - sequoia. The highest of them reach a height of more than 100 m, but their trunks are much thicker than those of eucalyptus trees. One of these trees was 46 m in girth and 15 m in thickness. Thanks to the longitudinal furrows, their trunks resemble the columns of ancient Greek temples. Sequoias can be attributed to the so-called "living fossils." They were distributed almost throughout the northern hemisphere in the pre-glacial period. Under such trees once roamed giant lizards, bronzosaurs and dinosaurs, and on the branches resting ancestors of modern birds - pterodactyls.

Almost not inferior to eucalyptus in height coniferous trees of North America - sequoia

The average age of sequoia, like eucalyptus, is 3-4 thousand years. Counting the annual rings on the stump of one sawn redwood was revealed a record age of 4830 years!

By the way, it's very hard to dump such a giant. One sequoia was cut down by a seven-meter saw for 17 days. To transport such a redwood, it was necessary to have 30 large railway platforms. There are cases when a dance floor was arranged on the stump of a giant sequoia, or when a large garage was equipped in the hollow of a giant tree.

In one of the museums in New York, part of a huge sequoia from California is on display. The height of this giant reached 240 feet! The part of the sequoia, exhibited in New York, had a girth of 75 m. Inside the room, 150 people were freely accommodated.

Unlike eucalyptus wood, sequoia wood is light, but it also does not rot - because of this in its time was widely used in various constructions. This led to almost complete destruction of the sequoia. Only a small number of green giants have survived in the reserves.

Quite an interesting story about the origin of the name sequoia. At first these huge trees were called Californian pines, or mammoth trees, because the tips of the branches, bent upwards, resembled the fangs of these animals. Picking up a scientific name for the tree, the Swedish botanist Linnaeus wanted to name her the English general of Wellington. Therefore, in 1859 the tree was called "Wellingtonia gigantic." But this name did not last long. Unsatisfied Americans crossed the tree for the name of their national hero George Washington to "gorgeous Washington". However, this name turned out to be short-lived. Scientists have accepted a compromise solution and began to refer to trees as they were called Indians - sequoias. Interestingly, the name of Sequoia was one of the chiefs of the Iroquois Indian tribe, who led the liberation struggle against foreign enslavers.

So, instead of the Englishman and the American, the name of the sequoia is immortalized the name of the Indian national hero. At the same time, the old name "mammoth tree" is also used.

In 1857, sequoias got to the Crimea in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden, where they now amaze visitors with their sizes.

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