Identification

Casual records often confuse the three redwood species. If you are submitting a new place or a correction, gathering clear visual evidence is the best way to help verify the record.

Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) Usually reads as massive and orange-red. Look for thick, spongy, fibrous bark that yields when pressed. The foliage is bristly and scale-like, resembling a braided cord rather than a flat fern. Cones are tough, woody, and roughly the size of a plum.

Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) Slimmer and often more columnar in Britain. The bark is still reddish and soft, but the foliage is the giveaway: it forms flat, fern-like sprays of needles, dark green above and marked with distinct white stomatal bands below. The cones are much smaller, resembling an olive.

Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) The only deciduous redwood. It is easiest to confirm in autumn when it turns warm copper, or in winter when it stands completely bare. The foliage is also flat and fern-like, but unlike the coast redwood, the needles are arranged in opposite pairs along the stem. The trunk often features distinct "armpit" depressions under the lower branches.

When verifying a species, a single wide shot of the tree is rarely enough. Photographs of the foliage detail, the bark texture, and any fallen cones provide the hard evidence needed to confirm an identification.