To single out the largest individual tree, it is probable that the _Sequoia sempervirens_ would have to be awarded the palm; while to the greatest number of very large trees, the palm would have to be awarded to the _Sequoia gigantea_. Redwood trees (_Sequoia sempervirens_) are found only on the Coast Range, and _Sequoia giganteas_ only in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. There are no redwoods south of Monterey County or north of Trinity County. The trees are different in foliage, and in their cones the _Sequoia gigantea_ has a larger, more compact, firm cone than the _Sequoia sempervirens_, the cone of which is small and split open, though the similarity in form of the cones is noticeable. It is not generally known that "_sequoia_" is the name of the _genus_, just like oak, cypress, maple, and hence that the _gigantea_ and _sempervirens_ are species of the same _genus_. The name _sequoia_ comes from _Sequoyah_, a Cherokee Indian chief of mixed blood, whose wisdom raised him as much above his fellows as the redwoods tower above other trees. As to the age of the trees, it is conceded by botanists that the concentric rings interpret their annual growth. Objection has been taken to this on the ground that the distance between the rings varies very much in different trees of the same species. This fact has, however, no weight. The closer the rings the thriftier the tree, and their distance apart has no more to do with their age than a man's height or weight have to do with his age. Differences in soil and location account for the closeness of the rings, but, unquestionably, every added ring represents an added year of growth. In some cases there are but six or eight rings to the inch, in others thirty to forty. The ages of the big trees in the Calaveras and Mariposa groves range from 1,000 to 4,320 years of age. One can scarcely conceive what this means; and the historic incidents of the days when these trees were already old may help to convey an idea of their age. When Carthage was founded some of these trees were centuries old; before Solomon built his temple, or David founded Judea, some of these forest giants fell crashing to earth, and have lain prone there ever since. All through the ages of Christianity the changing winds have shaken their tapering tops, and have swayed their crests in the gentle zephyrs, or rocked them to and fro in the gale, and now man, the pigmy, with his piece of jagged steel, his span of life three score years and ten, comes along, cuts through the forest giant, and the growth of thousands of years, that has defied storm and tempest, falls a victim to the pigmy.