Sequoiadendron giganteum

A 120 years old tree exploded by lightning

Domaine de Penthes, Botanical Garden of Geneva, Geneva - Switzerland
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Domaine de Penthes
- Scenery
From left to right :
Stump of Sequoiadendron giganteum, grove of Pinus nigra, Sequoia sempervirens, Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca'
Free translation of the label placed in front of the trunk

"On the 6th of October 1993 around 10h15, in one fraction of a second, 40 cubic meters of wood were thrown away to pieces : the lightning killed a giant tree planted around 1870. Some pieces were sent to more than 300 meters away into the property of the US Embassy, origin country of this tree.

Species : Sequoiadendron giganteum(Lindley) J. Buchholz
Circumference of the trunk : 8 meters at 1 m. height from the ground
Total height : 30 meters

From the family of the Taxodiaceae, the Giant Sequoia is the most imposing of all conifers. It is to be found in many parks in Geneva, but it will never have the opportunity to live the incredible adventure of more than 3'400 years which some specimens of the Sierra Nevada (California) have experienced. It was the fashion tree as early as 1850, like the Cedar of Lebanon was 30 years before."
Sequoidendron giganteum
- Trunk


Cupressus sempervirens
- Trees

Pinus nigra

- Grove
Pinus nigra

- Trunks
Sequoia sempervirens

- Tree, 30 meters high
Sequoia sempervirens

- Male strobili, ready to shed their pollen
Sequoia sempervirens

- Female dry cone
Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca'

Araucaria araucana

Thuja plicata

- Tree and trunk
Picea glauca var albertiana 'Conica'
- One branch is showing a shoot reversing to the normal form

close-up

Photos : © Arboretum de Villardebelle


22 February 2001
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