TRUE or FALSE Quiz about Redwood and Sequoia Trees

TRUE or FALSE?
A redwood is the same as a sequoia.
FALSE

Explanation: In North America, there are just two native species of cone-bearing redwoods: the Coast Redwood and the Giant Sequoia. Sequoias are redwoods, but not all redwoods are sequoias. Other parts of the world have Leaf-bearing redwoods, but none so mighty as California’s.

TRUE or FALSE?
Redwoods are the oldest trees.
FALSE
Explanation: Not even close. Compared to Methuselah, a spry little California Bristlecone Pine more than 4700 years old, the oldest living Redwood is a relative youngster. Seven other tree types in the United States can outlive redwoods.
General Sherman, in California’s Sequoia National Park is the biggest Sequoia, therefore probably the oldest. The National Park Service estimates that “The General” is between 1800 and 2700 years old, sprouted between 700 BC and AD 200. Put another way when Methuselah was a sapling, Egyptians were just getting the bright idea to pile up stones into big pointy tombs. By the time General Sherman began to grow, Egypt’s days of Might and Grandeur were long over.

TRUE or FALSE?
Redwoods require dense fog to thrive.
FALSE

Explanation: If that were the case, they wouldn’t survive in such fog-poor places as Rotorua, New Zealand, where the tallest redwoods reach 200 feet. Nor would they grow well in areas where summer heat can hit triple digits. Excessive wind will stunt their growth, and they drink literally tons of groundwater, but irrigation can supply this when nature will not. It’s just a question of how badly one wants a redwood tree.

TRUE or FALSE?
Redwoods grow at a snail’s pace
FALSE
Explanation: Oddly, the things grow like weeds in the right conditions: moist, well-drained soil, and moderate cold. Timber companies love them, of course, because redwoods can gain an inch of diameter and a yard of height per year in ideal conditions. Redwoods are not an endangered species, they’re just immense evergreens.

TRUE or FALSE?
Redwoods won’t grow tall in the eastern United States
FALSE
Explanation: It’s true that Eastern climates are rough on redwoods. The trees do not like high winds, so it stands to reason that they like twisters and hurricanes even less. Their height makes them targets for Dixie’s vicious lightning storms. But those are outside factors. If nature doesn’t batter or stunt a redwood, it’ll have no trouble growing 100 ft tall in eastern soils.

TRUE or FALSE?
Redwoods are not found above altitudes of 3000 ft.
FALSE
Explanation: A redwood grove on Maui extends to 6,000 feet above sea level. The myth persists because California redwoods can’t thrive above 3,000 feet, but that’s because California winters can be punishingly inhospitable at those altitudes.

TRUE or FALSE?
“Bonsai Giant Sequoia” is an oxymoron, a contradictory term.
FALSE
Explanation: People actually grow these, but remember that Giant Sequoia is the species name, and every tree begins as a tiny sprout.

TRUE or FALSE?
“There is one redwood tree so big, someone has carved an opening so you can drive your car through it”
TRUE, but…
Explanation: There are actually three such trees, all in Northern California. If you think it’s a touristy-fun thing to do, just drive carefully.

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