Giant Sequoias

by R.J. Hartesveldt, H.T. Harvey, H.S. Shellhammer

77 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Mark Isaak · Rating 4 out of 5]

For such a short, this book carries a lot of information. It covers the history, life cycle, distribution, and ecology of giant sequoias at a level of detail that should satisfy anyone but a specialist. Its one-page index is quite inadequate. Though fairly old (1981), most of the information in it is still good, though it could use an update about effects of global warming, and like almost all sources it gets the origin of the word "sequoia" wrong. The illustrations (most of them; some are purely decorative) are useful enough for me to wish there were more of them.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book for a master gardener to read. I enjoyed it immensely. There is so much good information packed into this little book.

[AvianBuddha · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engrossing, but dense book about Giant Sequoia evergreen trees. The Giant Sequioa is the world's largest tree in volume, so I was surprised to discover its seeds are much smaller than average and its bark is very brittle. Additionally, the roots have a shallow root depth, only 2 feet at most, but can extend over 125 feet. Additionally, forest fires benefit sequoias by releasing seeds from cones, creating bare mineral soil for seedlings to take root in, opening holes in the canopy to allow sunlight to reach them, and recycling nutrients. There is also a detailed discussion of how shade/moist and open/dry conditions affect Giant Sequioas, where excessive moisture can be fatal. Furthermore, they are intolerant of shade.

There is also an extensive discussion of the ecological balance and reciprocal relationship between vertebrates and invertebrates with Giant Sequoias. As an example, chickaree squirrels and long-horned beetles spread their seeds via their activities; chickarees eat the scales of Giant Sequioa cones, allowing seeds to disperse, and longhorn beetles eat the cone tissue, allowing cones to fall unharmed.

The purpose of this review is to give a very brief overview of the book. If you are as fascinated by Giant Sequoia trees as John Muir was, you should read this book. The fact that one third of these majestic trees were chopped down is tragic, and what's even more shocking is that 75% of the individual trees were wasted because of their dry, fine-grained wood.

[HeavyReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had more of the information I was looking for when I bought A Guide to the Sequoia Groves of California by Dwight Willard . However, this book is full of technical information, and there were plenty of times when reading it that I didn’t understand the information the authors were trying to convey. This book could have used more labeled diagrams to help explain some of that confusing information. Also, a really good (large, clear) photograph (or even illustration) of the needles of the giant sequoia tree would have been invaluable to me.

Maybe I need a book about sequoias meant for children. This one was helpful, but still over my head.

This short book includes an index and two reading lists.