The redwood is the common term for Sequoioideae, a subfamily under the family Cupressaceae. The redwood species are the largest and tallest trees on earth, the tallest species being Sequoia sempervirens, also known as the coast redwood, which can grow to a staggering height of just under 380 feet (115.82 meters).
John Steinbeck describes the redwood tree in this almost too-fitting quote:
“The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It’s not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.”
