California's Colossi

THE giant sequoia may weigh over 2000 tonnes, ten times as much as the largest known blue whale! Named after Sequoyah, a Cherokee Indian chief who invented a written alphabet for his tribe, the giant sequoia grows only on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains at a height of 1500-2400 m.

It is a coniferous evergreen tree, with a rust-red trunk and bright green needle-like leaves. The mature tree first flowers after two hundred years. When it does, the tree is loaded with thousands of male and female cones containing the seeds, from November to February. The seed that produces these tons of vegetation is absurdly small. Three thousand of them weigh just a few grams! There are upto 300 seeds in the button-sized cone. The cones open and let loose the seeds which drift away in the wind. Of a million seeds, just one may survive the attacks of birds and rodents, to reach adulthood.

The wood of the giant sequoia is very brittle and not of much use as timber. Its only virtue is that it lasts forever. Not one sequoia has been known to have died of old age, disease or insect attack. Fire can destroy a young tree, but the wood of a mature tree is as resistant to fire as asbestos. Only a lightning bolt from the heavens can end its life. The sequoia's sheer size makes it impractical to chop down and transport.

FUNNY WORLD

GUINEA pigs sleep with their eyes open. Only if they are feeling incredibly safe would they shut their eyes for a while. But it is very rare.