215 West Baltimore

SE corner of Baltimore and Monte Vista

Giant sequoias are the most massive trees in the world, with trunk diameters that can reach 30 ft. but taking many hundreds of years to obtain that size. They are California conifers native to the western slope of central and southern Sierra Nevada. It’s not unusual to find them planted in parks and gardens all over the Bay Area. The two shown above are the easiest to photograph in Larkspur, but there are more....at 1 Olive, in the yard of the house at Madrone and Foley lane and three young ones in the back yard of the house at Olive and Millard, best seen from Millard.

Sometimes it’s easy to confuse giant sequoias with incense cedars because from a distance they both have a strongly pyramidal shape. You need to get up close and examine the needles and cones. Compare the incense cedar in the photo at right ....flat fan shaped foliage with cones that eventually turn brown and resemble duck’s bills with the giant sequoia below...cones that resemble those of coast redwood and needles that are formed by sharp overlapping scales.

giant sequoia cone

1 Olive Ave.

Incense cedar needles and cones

giant sequoia needles

Olive and Millard, from Millard