Keyed Out #029 — Sequoiadendron giganteum

Question 1

Seeds ripen many to a hard cone, several riding upright on each thickened woody shield, not two tucked under a papery tongue and not one alone in a fleshy cup.

Accepted Answer

cypress family

Question 2

Its minute leaves clasp the twig and run down it, sheathing the shoot in green from base to tip, rather than standing out as broad leathery blades or as flat straps on distinct little stalks.

Accepted Answer

Cupressaceae

Question 3

It carries its foliage right through winter, the crown neither colouring nor dropping its leafy side-shoots whole each autumn.

Accepted Answer

Sequoiadendron

Question 4

The bole is wrapped in a spongy fibrous rind up to 2 feet (60 cm) thick at the base, deeply furrowed and cinnamon-red, soft enough to dent with a fist, not a thin skin peeling away in narrow strips.

Accepted Answer

Sequoiadendron

Question 5

Its egg-shaped cones need two summers to ripen and then hang on green and shut for as long as twenty years, each 2 to 3.5 inches (5 to 9 cm) long, not a thumbnail-sized cone finished and opened within a single season.

Accepted Answer

Sequoiadendron giganteum

Question 6

Its leaves are set singly, stepping round the shoot in a spiral so the spray radiates on every side, rather than standing in strict opposing pairs on twin-ranked side-shoots.

Accepted Answer

Sequoiadendron giganteum