[Brianiac]

Hello.

My Dad back in the 80's purchased what was once a landlords holding and divvied up by the land comission back in the early 1900's.
It has some lovely big trees including what i was always told was a sequoia. I thought that it might be nice to replant some of these old specimen trees again around the 30odd acres of farmland. I've read something online that has mentioned about keeping the seed in a fridge for a period to mimic the harsh winter in the states etc.
However i'm wondering if the tree i 'think' is a sequoia is actually so, and if it is self-fertile as it is the only tree of its type on the land.
I was looking at buying seeds online and then realised that it actually does produce cones which i have collected a few of. I dumped these in the boot of my car and when i went to take them out there were lots of these tiny seed things littering the boot. I have included a pic of them. I've also a pic of the tree itself - note that a reasonably chunk broke away a couple of decades ago from the top so it should really be a bit taller!

Any advice or feedback re growing the identification/growth of these would be great!

[Greengage]

What you have there is a wellingtonia or in Latin Sequiodendron giganteum, these were often planted on large estates in both Ireland and Britain, there were discovered in America in 1852, the most famous of the avenues is at Stratfield Saye in Hamshire on the duke of Wellingtons estate where they were first planted in 1857, In england the tree is named after the duke who died on the year of its discovery in America it is known as the big tree, Mammoth tree and Sequoia, They are very tall trees and are often struck by lightning causing die back at the tops this could have happened to yours, the bark is spongy and fire resistant as it does not contain resin,. Can you grow it from seed yes if the seed is viable, but you will have to wait a long time to have any tree of a good size , next generation will benefit so yes go ahead and plant.

[Good guy]

There was a magnificent specimen in the Florencecourt Estate in Co Fermanagh when I was a boy. The hurricane in 1961(?) brought it down. I used to clamber along its prone trunk and imagine myself to be an explorer of the far North West!

[tagwex]

Notwithstanding that Greengage seems to be positive about the identification, I have a book for many years now that I have found invaluable in my line of work for tree identification, it is well laid out and easy to use with excellent clear diagrams. I have the 1983 version of 'The Mitchell Beazley pocket guide to Trees' by Keith Rushforth and would recommend it to anyone.

[tippben]

My favourite is Cassell's Trees of Britain and Northern Europe (David More and John White). Not cheap, but absolutely invaluable for the professional arboricultaralist. A fun thing to do with Giant Redwoods is to dare your friends to hit the tree really hard. The outer bark is so spongy and corky that you don't hurt your hand.

[tagwex]

Each to their own Tippben each to their own. I got mine for nothing!!!

[Brianiac]

Thanks all! nice to know what it is i have. I came across a site that suggested that 'young' sequoia trees that we have here in Europe do not produce viable seed - do you know if that's true?
i'm going to give a bash at germinating them anyway and see what happens...