California Symbols, Tree: Redwood

Adopted in 1937.

California has designated two distinct species as its state tree.

See Sequoia

The California redwood was designated the official State Tree of California by the State Legislature in 1937. Once common throughout the Northern Hemisphere, redwoods are found only on the Pacific Coast. Many groves and stands of the towering trees are preserved in state and national parks and forests.

Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), also called coast redwood and California redwood, is native to the central and northern California coast, a region of moderate to heavy winter rain and summer fog so vital to this tree. It is one of three important North American trees of the family Taxodiaceae. Close relatives are the giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) of the Sierra Nevada in California and the baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) of the southeastern states.

The coast redwoods are the tallest trees in the world - one reaching over 360 feet tall grows in the Humboldt Redwoods. One giant sequoia, the General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park, is 272 feet high and more than 36 feet in diameter and is widely considered to be the world's largest tree overall.

Leaf: Evergreen, 1/2 to 1 inch long, linear, two-ranked and flattened, yellow-green to green, upper side of needle has sparse stomatal bloom while underside has two distinct bands. Leaves on cone-bearing branches may be scale-like.

Flower: Monoecious; both males and females are very small and occur near the ends of shoots; males are oblong; females more egg-shaped.

Fruit: Woody cone, 3/4 to 1 inch long, reddish-brown, basically egg-shaped, mature in one season.

Twig: Slender, often drooping, initially green and later turning brown.

Bark: Very thick (up to 1 foot), deeply furrowed with rounded ridges, fibrous, reddish to gray-brown.

Form: Very large, tall, straight tree (over 300 feet) with a narrow, loose crown.
 

Source:
Dendrology at Virginia Tech Dendrology at Virginia Tech
U.S. Department of Agriculture U.S. Department of Agriculture