Keyed Out #078 — Sequoia sempervirens

Question 1

Its woody cone is small and rounded, its scales thickened and shield-like at the tip and fused to the bracts behind them, each fertile scale bearing several seeds rather than a strict pair.

Accepted Answer

cypress family

Question 2

Crushed foliage is strongly aromatic, and its small leaves sit directly on the twig without any papery sheath gathering them into bundles, and are neither broad nor leathery.

Accepted Answer

Cupressaceae

Question 3

One tree carries two kinds of foliage at once: flat needle-like leaves set in two ranks along the side shoots, and small scale-like leaves on the leading shoots.

Accepted Answer

Sequoia

Question 4

It holds its foliage right through the winter rather than shedding whole leafy shoots in autumn and standing bare until spring.

Accepted Answer

Sequoia

Question 5

Its flat needles are set singly and alternately along the shoot, never in pairs standing directly opposite each other across it.

Accepted Answer

Sequoia sempervirens

Question 6

Bark on a mature trunk is 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) thick, fibrous, reddish-brown and deeply furrowed, soft enough to take the print of a fist rather than peeling away in thin strips.

Accepted Answer

Sequoia sempervirens