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sequoia sempervirens

The coast redwood can reach 115 m (377 ft) tall with a trunk diameter of 9 m (30 ft). It has a conical crown, with horizontal to slightly drooping branches. The bark can be very thick, up to 1-foot (30 cm), and quite soft and fibrous, with a bright red-brown color when freshly exposed (hence the name redwood), weathering darker. The root system is composed of shallow, wide-spreading lateral roots.

The  leaves are variable, being 15–25 mm (⁵⁄₈–1 in) long and flat on young trees and shaded shoots in the lower crown of old trees. On the other hand, they are scale-like, 5–10 mm (¹⁄₄–³⁄₈ in) long on shoots in full sun in the upper crown of older trees, with a full range of transition between the two extremes. They are dark green above and have two blue-white stomatal bands below. Leaf arrangement is spiral, but the larger shade leaves are twisted at the base to lie in a flat plane for maximum light capture. 

 Trees over 200 feet (60 m) are common, and many are over 300 ft (90 m). The current tallest tree is the Hyperion tree, measuring 379.3 ft (115.61 m).The tree was discovered in Redwood !natioanl Park during the summer of 2006 by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor, and is thought to be the world's tallest living organism. The previous record holder was the Stratosphere Giant in Humbolt Redwoods State Park at 370.2 ft (112.84 m) (as measured in 2004). Until it fell in March 1991, the "Dyerville Giant" was the record holder. It, too, stood in Humboldt Redwoods State Park and was 372 ft (113.4 m) high and estimated to be 1,600 years old. This fallen giant has been preserved in the park.