ETYM New Lat. So called by Dr. Endlicher in honor of Sequoyah, who invented the Cherokee alphabet.
Either of two huge coniferous California trees that reach a height of 300 feet; sometimes placed in the Taxodiaceae; SYN. redwood.
Gigantic redwood or “big tree” of California.
Two species of conifer in the redwood family Taxodiaceae, native to W US. The redwood Sequoia sempervirens is a long-lived timber tree, and one specimen, the Howard Libbey Redwood, is the world’s tallest tree at 110 m/361 ft, with a circumference of 13.4 m/44 ft. The giant sequoia Sequoiadendron giganteum reaches up to 30 m/100 ft in circumference at the base, and grows almost as tall as the redwood. It is also (except for the bristlecone pine) the oldest living tree, some specimens being estimated at over 3,500 years of age.