Sequoioideae
subfamily in the family Cupressaceae
Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Cupressaceae that range in the northern hemisphere. It includes the largest and tallest trees in the world. The trees in the subfamily are amongst the most distinctive trees in the world and are common ornamental trees. The subfamily reached its peak of diversity during the early Cenozoic. They are fast-growing trees that live in temperate climates such as Mediterranean and humid subtropical climates. Three living species are known, the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), the giant redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) and the dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides). While the coast redwood and the giant redwood are found in the western United States, the dawn redwood is known from China.
Description
The three redwood subfamily genera are Sequoia from coastal California and Oregon, Sequoiadendron from California's Sierra Nevada, and Metasequoia in China. The redwood subfamily contains the largest and tallest trees in the world. The trees can live for thousands of years.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Sequoioideae” as subfamily in the family Cupressaceae. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as subfamily in the family Cupressaceae. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q149335.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sequoioideae” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.