Sequoia Endl.
Very large evergreen tree; branches irregularly whorled; bark thick, fibrous, very soft, shedding in large plates. Winter buds scaly. Lvs dimorphic, those of lateral shoots 2-ranked, ± linear, flat, with 2 stomatal bands below, and decurrent at base, those of terminal and cone-bearing shoots, particularly when erect, spirally arranged, small and often scale-like, almost appressed to shoot, and with stomatal bands irregular and ± glaucous. ♂ strobili (cones) axillary and terminal, broadly ovoid or oblong-ovoid, terminal, stalked, with many spirally arranged stamens. ♀ cones solitary, subglobose, ripening in second year, persistent after dehiscence. Scales 15-20, obliquely shield-shaped, woody, transversely ridged; tip of bract scale free, narrow and inconspicuous. Seeds 3-7 per scale, elliptic to ± oblong; wing narrower than seed.
1 sp., coastal California, S.W. Oregon. Naturalised sp. 1.
The closely related monotypic Sequoiadendron J. Bucholz, represented by S. giganteum (Lindley) J. Bucholz (Sequoia gigantea (Lindley) Decne), wellingtonia, is a very commonly cultivated tree in N.Z. It regenerates a little in the immediate vicinity of planted trees, but does not seem to be truly wild. Sequoiadendron is easily distinguished from Sequoia by the naked winter buds and the subulate monomorphic lvs.
