giant sequoia

The inner bark makes a very nice cordage fiber which is soft enough to wear. The outer bark gets so thick and gnarly that it resists burning in forest fires which burn off the understory. The wood is extremely hardy, and we still have redwood stumps washing around our beaches which have been known and tracked for centuries (the same one!)

This redwood looks to be just a baby! At one time, a type of redwood was native to Europe, but it's homeland (like many) has shrunk. We see them occasionally in coastal Oregon, but even there it's likely been planted (though they were native so recently they take off and do well). They can live for centuries. The name "Sequoia" comes from the Cherokee man who is the only person in known history who, speaking no other language than his own and that language not a written one, invented an 'alphabet' (actually a syllabary) for the language. The tribe became over 90% literate in their language in just a few years. Paper was essential to this process, and it came from trees, although the redwood is not generally used for paper.