GIANT REDWOOD

How sad...

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, 
Nature is imagination itself."

William Blake (1757-1827)

According to Wikipedia, these giant evergreen trees are Sequoia sempervirens and are the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family. Common names include Coast Redwood, California Redwood, and Giant Redwood. These massive trees live 1200–1800 years or more! The species includes the tallest trees living now on Earth, reaching up to 379 feet in height and up to 26 feet in diameter. 

An estimated 95% or more of the original old-growth redwood forest has been cut down for lumber. What an awful testimonial to man that he should see such grandeur and just destroy it. Thankfully, what is left is now protected in the Redwood National Forest in Northern California. If you visit California try to get to see them. They are jaw-droppingly beautiful.

Before commercial logging and clearing began by the 1850s, the Giant Redwood occurred naturally in an estimated 2,100,000 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.