The three redwoods, compared
Giant sequoia, coast redwood, and dawn redwood share a name but differ in scale, habit, foliage, and origin. A side-by-side comparison, and how to tell them apart in the field.
Learn
Read the map in the field
Use these notes before or after finding a place: identify the redwood species, understand why they grow here, and check what the public map can and cannot confirm.
9 published notes
Learn
Six pages on species, history, and place
The dawn redwood: a living fossil
Described from fossils and assumed extinct for millions of years, the dawn redwood was found alive in central China in the 1940s — then planted across Britain within a decade. Its story, and how to know it in the field.
History in Britain
How redwoods arrived in Britain, why Victorian estates planted them, and why so many important trees now stand outside California.
Identification
Field cues for telling giant sequoia, coast redwood, and dawn redwood apart in UK parks, gardens, and estates.
Measuring trees
Why height, girth, and champion claims need careful sourcing and clear uncertainty.
Visiting responsibly
Most UK redwood places are in working gardens, estates, and arboreta. This page covers access context, what to expect, and how to treat trees and land carefully.
Redwoods and carbon
How much carbon Britain's redwoods really store — and where the honest limits of that claim sit.
Redwoods in the classroom
Why redwoods are a way into deep time, climate, Victorian history, and fieldwork — using trees pupils can actually visit.
UK context
Why Britain has so many planted redwoods outside their native California range, and what that means for the public record Among the Redwoods is building.
Questions
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Is this encyclopedia content?
No. Learn is practical context for using Among the Redwoods and visiting redwood places carefully.
Where does Learn content come from?
Learn pages are editorial guides linked to the live map and written to match Among the Redwoods's source, access, and uncertainty rules.