Its scientific name is Sequoiadendron giganteum . It is sometimes called the Sierra redwood. The taller and more slender coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens , has the kind of profile and branch structure associated with a conifer. It is named for the color of its heartwood, not its brownish bark. Distribution Giant Sequoias occur in 75 groves scattered at elevations between 4,500 and 7,000 feet above sea level on the west slope of California's Sierra Nevada.
Some groves contain only a few trees, others several thousand.
The sequoias are not isolated from other trees, but grow in association with white fir, sugar pine, ponderosa pine, and incense cedar. What makes them stand out from the others is their size. This soft, fibrous bark is fire resistant and protects the growth layer from the periodic fires ignited by lightning. Intense heat generated by the debris that accumulates at the tree's base, and the effect of repeated fires, can breach the bark. Burn scars and the blackened, hollow trunks of some older yet healthy trees attest to the many fires that have burned over the centuries through the groves.