APPEARANCE OF WOOD: Color, red, turning dark on exposure, sap-wood thin, whitish; non-porous; rings, very plain; grain straight, coarse; rays, numerous, thin; non-resinous.
PHYSICAL QUALITIES: Light (65th in this list); 18 lbs. per cu. ft.; sp. gr., 0.2882; weak (63d in this list); brittle (62d in this list); very soft (61st in this list); shrinks little; warps little; remarkably durable; easy to work, splits readily, takes nails well.
COMMON USES: Construction, lumber, coffins, shingles.
REMARKS: Dimensions and age are unequalled; Big Tree and Redwood survivors of a prehistoric genus, once widely distributed. Some specimens 3600 years old.
[Illustration: Radial Section, life size.]
[Illustration: Cross-section, magnified 37-1/2 diameters.]
[Illustration: Tangential Section, life size.]
_Sequoia sempervirens_ (Lambert) Endlicher.
_Sequoia_, latinized from Sequoiah, a Cherokee Indian; _sempervirens_ means ever living.
HABITAT: (See map); best in southern Oregon and northern California, near coast.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TREE: Height, 200'-340'; diameter, 10'-15', rarely 25'; clean trunk, much buttressed and swollen at base, somewhat fluted, branches very high; bark, very thick, 6"-12", rounded ridges, dark scales falling reveal inner red bark; leaves, small, two-ranked; cones, small, 1" long.
APPEARANCE OF WOOD: Color, red, turning to brown on seasoning, sap-wood whitish; non-porous; rings, distinct; grain, straight; rays, numerous, very obscure; non-resinous.
PHYSICAL QUALITIES: Light in weight (55th in this list); 26 lbs. per cu. ft.; sp. gr. 0.4208; weak (58th in this list); brittle (60th in this list); soft (55th in this list); shrinks little; warps little; very durable; easily worked; splits readily; takes nails well.
COMMON USES: Shingles, construction, timber, fence posts, coffins, railway ties, water pipes, curly specimens used in cabinet work.
REMARKS: Low branches rare. Burns with difficulty. Chief construction wood of Pacific Coast. Use determined largely by durability.
[Illustration: Radial Section, life size.]
[Illustration: Cross-section, magnified 37-1/2 diameters.]
[Illustration: Tangential Section, life size.]
Bald refers to leaflessness of tree in winter.
_Taxodium distichum_ (Linnaeus) L. C. Richard.