The silhouettes of the giant sequoias stand out at the centre of a meadow, in the American area of the Arboretum.
If at 25 m high, they are not the estate’s tallest sequoias, these trees are remarkable for the diameter of their trunks: more than 1.5 m. With a record of 95 m high, the giant sequoia is not the world’s tallest tree (the evergreen sequoia reaches 115 m), but it is certainly the most massive: the trunk of the biggest specimen reaches 1,400 m3.
Thanks to its thick resin-free bark, it resists fire. This is necessary for its reproduction: heat opens the cones and frees the seeds, which drop and germinate in the ashes of the brush. The shoot can then develop without the competition and shade of the bushes, which have been eliminated by the fire.
