giant sequoia

n. A very tall, coniferous evergreen tree (Sequoiadendron giganteum) native to the high western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in California and having a massive trunk and light-colored, reddish wood. Also called big tree, giant redwood, wellingtonia.

big′ tree`

n. a large sequoia, Sequoiadendron giganteum, growing to 300 ft. (91 m) high, having reddish brown bark and scalelike blue-green leaves. Also called giant sequoia. [1850–55]

Thesaurus

Noun

giant sequoia - extremely lofty evergreen of southern end of western foothills of Sierra Nevada in California; largest living organismbig tree, Sequoia gigantea, Sequoia Wellingtonia, Sequoiadendron giganteum, Sierra redwoodsequoia, redwood - either of two huge coniferous California trees that reach a height of 300 feet; sometimes placed in the Taxodiaceaegenus Sequoiadendron, Sequoiadendron - giant sequoias; sometimes included in the genus Sequoia; until recently placed in the Taxodiaceae

giant sequoia

giant sequoia:

see sequoiasequoia
, name for the redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and for the big tree, or giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), both huge, coniferous evergreen trees of the bald cypress family, and for extinct related species.
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Giant Sequoia

(Sequoiadendron giganteum), also big tree, a coniferous evergreen of the family Taxodiaceae. The giant sequoia reaches heights greater than 100 m and lives up to 1,500 years (according to other data, up to 3,000 or 4,000 years). The straight, well-shaped trunk measures as much as 10 m in diameter. In old trees the lower part of the trunk is branchless. The dense crown is conical and rounded. The bark is brown in mature trees and reddish in young trees. The leaves (needles) are gray-green, spirally arranged, narrowly lanceolate, and concave above. The ovate, woody cones, which develop at the tips of the lateral shoots, are 5–7.5 cm long and 3–4.5 cm wide. Initially green, they turn brown when the seeds mature. The cones mature in the second year, remaining on the tree after the seeds fall out. The seeds are flat and have a membranous wing.

The giant sequoia grows in California, at elevations of 1,450–2,500 m on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. The largest natural groves of the trees have been designated as preserves. Some of the tallest trees have been given their own names.

The sequoia tree is ornamental and has been cultivated in parks and gardens of Southern and Central Europe. In the USSR it is raised in the southern Crimea, Middle Asia, the Caucasus, and Transcarpathia.

REFERENCES

Derev’ia i kustarniki SSSR, vol. 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1949.
Kammeyer, H. F. Mammulbäume. Ziemsen, 1960. (Die neue Brehm-Bücherei, fasc. 256.)

V. N. GLADKOVA

giant sequoia

Related to giant sequoia: Giant Sequoia National Monument, giant redwoods

noun

Synonyms for giant sequoia

noun extremely lofty evergreen of southern end of western foothills of Sierra Nevada in California

Synonyms

big tree
Sequoia gigantea
Sequoia Wellingtonia
Sequoiadendron giganteum
Sierra redwood

Related Words

sequoia
redwood
genus Sequoiadendron
Sequoiadendron