Tree species: Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)
Location: Stadtgarten, Passstraße
Trunk circumference: 6.30 meters
Trunk height: 30 meters
Age: around 150 years old
This giant sequoia stands alone in a large meadow and therefore has an impressive park design effect. The tree is around 150 years old. Sequoias originally come from North America, where they are also known as redwoods because of the color of their wood. On the western slopes of the Sierra Navada, there are specimens in some national parks that are over 1500 years old. As these giants have been on earth for 110 million years, they are also known as living fossils.
The fibrous bark of the sequoia can be 30 to 75 centimetres thick, contains no resin and is very soft. The fire-resistant bark can even protect the tree from forest fires by secreting a liquid when it gets hot, which then covers the outer skin protectively. Sequoias even need regular forest fires to reproduce: the rising heat of the fire causes the cones to open and the seeds to fall onto exposed, light-flooded soil fertilized with ash.
