Roots of a Sequoia
Roots
The sequoias have a matting, shallow, and wide-spreading root system. There is no tap root. They only root to 12 to 14 feet deep even at maturity. A mature sequoia’s roots can occupy over 1 acre of earth and contain over 90,000 cubic feet of soil. That mass of matted roots and soil has to maintain the equilibrium of a tree that is nearly 300 feet tall and weighs nearly 2 million pounds.
Trunk of a Sequoia
At the heart of the Sequoia National Park, in the shade of towering sequoias and redwood groves, the Giant Forest is home to half of the Earth’s largest and longest-living trees. It is difficult to appreciate the size of the giant sequoias because neighboring trees are so large. The largest of the sequoias are as tall as an average 26-story building, and their diameters at the base exceed the width of many city streets. As they continue to grow, they produce about 40 cubic feet of wood each year, approximately equal to the volume of a 50-foot-tall tree one foot in diameter.