In good living conditions with a lot of sunlight, redwood seedlings grow quickly, more than a foot per year in some trees. Trees that originate from seeds do not experience rapid height growth until they are over 10 years of age. Growth of young redwoods is best in full sunlight, but the trees are able to grow in dense shade as well. Photosynthesis rates are surprisingly high in redwoods, even at low light intensities.
The coast redwood lives incredibly long, grows taller than any other tree species in the world, and is exceeded in bulk by only the giant sequoia. Becoming sexually mature at the age of 10 years or less, the redwoods continue to grow in volume for hundreds and hundreds of years. The oldest redwood found so far, according to the growth ring counts, is almost 2,200 years old. Although, on average, redwoods seldom live more than 2,000 years, which is two-thirds as long as giant sequoias, and only half as long as bristlecone pines. Secondary growth of individual young trees can be extremely fast or very slow. Where competition is high, the annual diameter increase could be less than one millimeter. On the other hand, where competition is not a problem, the diameter could increase by more than 2.5 cm in one year.
The life cycle of a conifer.
Now that you've learned all about the reproduction of the coast redwood, it is time to discover the many connections this tree has with other organisms. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, go to Interactions with Other Species.
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Home Sweet Home
The Crown
As soon as a young giant sequoia has an adequate year-round supply of moisture and sunlight it begins to grow quite rapidly. Under optimal conditions its main stem leads the way upward, and the tree becomes conical in shape. The upper part of the crown will retain this shape for many years although if the tree is not growing in full sunlight it may begin to lose its lower branches at it gets taller and as the shade deepens around its base. Eventually, however, sexual maturity is achieved and thereafter the crown of the tree gradually loses its sharply spired appearance and takes on a more rounded, dome shape. The crown of a mature giant sequoia takes on a gracefully rounded look with great cloud like billows of greenery that stand in marked contrast to the more pointed tops of other conifers around it. The top of the crown becomes more and more rounded as great age and great height combine to inhibit further growth upward. Massive branches are also typical of the old veterans. Natural pruning may eventually result in main trunks that are branchless for one hundred to one hundred fifty feet above the ground. Above that level the older trees may keep one or more branches that come horizontally out of the main trunk and then turn upward, reaching another one hundred to one hundred fifty feet into the sunlight. Many old giant sequoias are snag-topped in appearance. That is, they have dead wood at the top of their crowns, indicating that they have been taller and then died back somewhat even though they otherwise appear to be healthy and robust. The largest single cause of snag-tops is fire damage. Eighty-five percent of sequoias that have snag-tops also have serious burn scars in their trunks.Rate of Growth
Coast redwoods may put on six, eight or even more feet of height in a single season whereas the giant sequoia is more likely to grow about two feet in height per year throughout its first fifty to one hundred years. On the other hand, the massive trunk of the giant sequoia continues to grow - increasing its overall volume - at a rate far surpassing that of any other tree. Growth rings one half inch in thickness are common in young giant sequoias under optimal conditions. This amounts to an increase of one inch of diameter per year. And rapid growth is likely to continue even when the trunk has become one hundred or more feet in circumference. By then the annual growth rings may have become narrower, but the overall volume of growth may be continuing at the same or an increased rate. As part of their work for the National Park Service, the Hartesveldt research team measured both the size and rate of growth of many giant sequoias. They calculated that the General Sherman Tree (in the Giant Forest) - widely considered to be the world's largest tree - may also be the fastest growing. They found that the diameter of the tree had increased about three inches during the forty years years since careful measurements were made in 1931. Three inches of diameter in forty years may not sound like rapid growth until one remembers that the General Sherman Tree is 272 feet high and more than thirty feet in diameter - well over one hundred feet in circumference. Layers of new wood one millimeter thick spread over a surface this broad and this high, means that during the last forty years the General Sherman Tree has added enough new wood each year to construct a five or six room house. The Hartesveldt team also described the General Sherman's rapid growth in another way. Based on forty years of known growth, they calculated that the addition of new wood during this time was about forty cubic feet per year, or in other words approximately the same volume of wood as might be found in a tree twelve inches in diameter at breast height, and fifty feet high. Thus in order for a seedling tree to match the growth rate of the General Sherman it would have to start from nothing and reach fifty feet in height and one foot in diameter within a single year. Theoretically it would appear that a giant sequoia could go on living and growing forever. Death comes to them only by means of fire or through some other external physical event such as undermining by erosion or overthrow by the wind. Although they are no longer considered the oldest living things in the world - they could conceivably regain the title at some time in the future. Today, the oldest known giant sequoia is some 3,300 years of age.Excerpted from "The Enduring Giants" by Joseph H. Engbeck Jr., published by the California State Parks.