Sequoia sempervirens
Common name: 
Coastal Redwood
Coast Redwood
California Redwood
Pronunciation: 
se-KWOY-a sem-per-VI-rens
Family: 
Cupressaceae
Genus: 
Sequoia
Type: 
Conifer
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
Yes
  • Conifer, evergreen tree, 200+ ft (61 m) tall (325+ ft in wild), densely branched, gracefully pyramidal in youth.  Bark a rich red-brown, fibrous. Leaves mostly needle-like, flat, 2-ranked, 1-2 cm long, stiff and sharp pointed, dark green, two broad whitish stomatal bands below; leaves on leaders are scale-like.  Cones somewhat egg-shaped, 2-2.5 cm long, brownish, ripen in first year.
  • Sun.  Prefers moist, acid, deep, well-drained soils.  Does not perform well in eastern states.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 7     Native to extreme southwest Oregon to central California, its range rarely extsends more than 25 miles from the Pacific Ocean or beyond the influence of ocean fogs.  The largest trees are found along the northern California coast, especially in National and State parks.  In 2006 a Coastal Redwood in the Redwood National Park was measured at 379.1 feet tall.  It is called Hyperion and is likely the tallest tree in the world.  Typical understory plants includes a number of different ferns, salal, rhododendron, huckleberry, cascara, thimbleberry, and salmonberry.
  • A number of selections available, here are a few:
    • 'Adpressa'  -  dwarf form, irregular habit, densely twiggy, buds and shoot tips white
    • 'Albospica'  -  tree,  new growth is white, grows about 2 ft per year
    • 'Kelly's Prostrate'  -  low growing, dwarf shrub, all branches horizontal, growing about 6 inches (15 cm) a year
    • 'Yurok Prince'  -  low growing shrub, horizontal branches, to 3-4 ft (0.9-1.2 m) high
  • Sequoia: after Sequoiah (1770-1843), son of a British merchant and a Cherokee woman;   sempervirens: evergreen.
  • Oregon State Univ. campus: Moreland Hall "arboretum";  NW Gilbert Hall; north of Community Hall (formerly Benton Hall)
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit, young tree

    plant habit, young tree

  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • branchlets and male cones

    branchlets and male cones

  • branches, cones

    branches, cones

  • needles and cone

    needles and cone

  • needles, underside

    needles, underside

  • branchlets and cones

    branchlets and cones

  • needles, comparison

    needles, comparison

  • trunk, bark

    trunk, bark

  • trunk, (Big Tree: 300 ft high, 1500 years old)

    trunk, (Big Tree: 300 ft high, 1500 years old)