Endlicher founded the genus on the redwood of the Americans, _Taxodium sempervirens_ of Lamb; and named the species _Sequoia sempervirens_. These trees form large forests in California, which extend along the coast as far as Oregon. Trees are there met with of 300 feet in height and 20 feet in diameter. The seeds have been brought to Europe a number of years ago, and we already see in upper Italy and around the Lake of Geneva, and in England, high trees; but, on the other hand, they have not proved successful around Zurich. In 1852, a second species of Sequoia was discovered in California, which, under the name of big tree, soon attained a considerable celebrity. Lindley described it, in 1853, as _Wellingtonia gigantea_; and, in the following year, Decaisne and Torrey proved that it belonged to Sequoia, and that it accordingly should be called _Sequoia gigantea_. While the _Sequoia sempervirens_, in spite of the destructiveness of the American lumbermen, still forms large forests along the coast, the _Sequoia gigantea_ is confined to the isolated clumps which are met with inland at a height of 5,000 to 7,000 feet above sea-level, and are much sought after by tourists as one of the wonders of the country. Reports came to Europe concerning the largest of them which were quite fabulous, but we have received accurate accounts of them from Prof. Whitney. The tallest tree measured by him has a height of 325 feet, and in the case of one of the trees the number of the rings of growth indicated an age of about 1,300 years. It had a girth of 50 to 60 feet. We know only two living species of _Sequoia_, both of which are confined to California. The one (_S. sempervirens_) is clothed with erect leaves, arranged in two rows, very much like our yew-tree, and bears small, round cones; the other (_S. gigantea_) has smaller leaves, set closely against the branches, giving the tree more the appearance of the cypress. The cones are egg-shaped, and much larger. These two types are therefore sharply defined. Both of these trees have an interesting history. If we go back into the Tertiary, this same genus meets us with a long array of species. Two of these species correspond to those living at present: the _S. Langsdorfii_ to the _S. sempervirens_, and the _S. Couttsiæ_ to the _S. gigantea_.[DH] But, while the living species are confined to California, in the Tertiary they are spread over several quarters of the globe. [DH] _S. Couttsiæ_ has leaves like _S. gigantea_, and cones like those of _8. sempervirens_.