Sequoia sempervirens (Coast Redwood)

Plant Description: Redwoods are one of the few conifers that are able to regrow vegetatively from their stumps, an ability that helps them regenerate after fires. Its bark is extremely resilient and resistant to rot and decay.  It is an evergreen long-living monoecious tree that can live 1,200–2,200 years or more. This species includes the tallest and longest-living trees on Earth. Before commercial logging and clearing began by the 1850s, this massive tree occurred naturally in an estimated 2,000,000 acres along much of coastal California (excluding southern California where rainfall is not sufficient) and the southwestern corner of coastal Oregon within the United States. Being the tallest tree species, with a small range and an extremely long lifespan, many redwoods are preserved in various state and national parks; many of the largest specimens have their own official names. The tallest recognized living redwood tree is a Sequoia sempervirens by the name of Hyperion, reaching upwards of 379 feet (not including its roots) and estimated to be between 600 to 800 years old. Hyperion is in a remote location not disclosed or accessible to the public (due to devastation from over-visitation causing ferns to no longer grow at its base) in Redwoods National Park, California. The largest recognized (by volume) is known as the Del Norte Titan, reaching 307 feet in height and 24 feet in diameter and adding up to 32,000 cubic feet, located in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

Pitch, bark, and needles have historically been used medicinally to treat various ales and sipped in tea. *NEVER CONSUME PLANTS WITHOUT PROPER ID*

• Height: 60-300+ft
• Width: 25-75ft
• Watering needs: prefers to stay evenly moist
  
• Sun needs: full sun-part sun
  
• Soil needs: nutrient rich, well drained soil
  
• Bloom Time: Summer, Fall
  
• Portland Plant List (Backyard Habitat Certification): No

Landscape Use and Ecological Function: serves as a majestic landscape tree for its immense beauty, durability, and unique forms, while ecologically functioning as a climate regulator, water stabilizer, carbon sequestration, and critical habitat provider, supporting vast biodiversity from birds and bats to rare amphibians, and creating unique microclimates in their native foggy coastal environments, making them vital ecosystem engineers.

*Photo by Seven Oaks Nursery*