 |
Home |
| Parks | |
| About the Site | |
| News |
|
Kings Canyon National Park: Sequoias
|
Because of its girth, height, and distinctive cinnamon color the giant sequoia is undoubtedly one of the most impressive living things on earth. It's sometimes difficult to get a real feeling for just how large these trees are; when the visitor is close up it's easy to be overwhelmed by the size of the base of the tree, but it's almost necessary to stand back a ways to get an idea for just how tall they really are.
Another interesting thing about these trees is that the trunks don't really seem to taper very quickly. So the trunk is still huge very high up the tree, and the limbs themselves are often very much larger than even the trunks of most sizeable trees. The trees resemble giant columns altlhough very much larger than might be found in a Greek or Roman temple.
The sequoia's size is the result of a long summer growing season coupled with mild winters. The thick bark resists fire, which when it occurs fire triggers the release of seeds from the sequoia cones. The tree is also very resistant to insects. The sequoias are very fast growing; in fact, the trees continue to grow as long as they live.
The base of many of the older trees is immense. Often times the trunk is curled into fantastic shapes, as in these two specimens (above and below) which look a little like elephants' feet.
The Grant Grove contains a substantial number of sequoias. Some of the smaller ones grow pretty close together, as can be seen in the photograph below.
Below is the "Centennial Stump." This is all that remains of a giant sequoia which it took 2 men 9 days to chop through in 1876; the stump measures 26 feet across. Sections of the felled tree were sent to the Philadelpha Centennial Celebration, where many people refused to believe such a massive object was a real tree and regarded it as a "California prank." In later times Sunday school services were often held on the surface of the stump.
One of the reasons that sequoias can live so long is their ability to resist fire. Many specimens carry the marks of past contests with forest fires, as in the photograph below.
- Main Page for Kings Canyon National Park -
- All photographs ©Patrick Holleran, Shannon Technologies, 1994-2010
- Commercial use of the images contained in this document without express written consent is strictly prohibited.
- Comments and other remarks can be sent via e-mail to parkvision@shannontech.com
