Contents
What is a cultivar?
A cultivar is a genetically stable form that can be propagated reliably in some prescribed manner. This may be by seed, by grafting or it may be vegetatively propagated, that is, be a clone. The word itself is derived from the term cultivated variety. Cultivars can be certain selection with desired properties, selected from populations of a certain species (as is the case with Sequoiadendron) of from populations of hybrids between species. In popular genera, like Dahlia and Rosa the breeding lines are so complex that it would be impossible to ascribe most cultivars to any particular species. In some plant families, e.g. Orchidaceae, multi-generic crosses are common.
 |
 Sequoiadendron giganteum 'French Beauty' |
In practice, the naming of cultivars is a mess, because some plants are ascribed to a certain cultivar without thoroughly comparing it with others, because nurseries do not always use registered names, because some names are misspelt or because some cultivars are described only very concise.
This overviews wants to throw some light on the different cultivars of Sequoiadendron. All cultivars registered by the ICRA authorized for the species are listed, together with all cultivar names that are apparently used by nurseries and are published online. For every cultivar, its RHS status is shown (more below).
RHS status and colour codes
The color codes reflect the cultivar status in the database of the official Registration Authority for the species Sequoiadendron giganteum and that is the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Since 1985 only one Sequoiadendron cultivar has been officially registered by the RHS: 'Hazel Smith' . The brief description provided was essentially that reproduced in Conifer Quarterly 19: 90 (2002).
Since few new introductions are being registered, the contents of the RHS database has mainly been extracted from literature by the registrars. The database is being completed in an alphabetical manner and at the moment has (2006) not gotten as far as Sequoiadendron. The registrar, Mr. Lawrie S.Springate, is in the process of checking books, nursery catalogues and journals but probably that still will not adequately account for many introductions made abroad, particularly in North America.
A major problem is that the Register and Checklist should only record names established under the International Code, i.e., established in print, with at least some description after 1958, not just published online, as happens with quite a few of the recent cultivars. Hopefully a number will turn up in printed catalogues in the future. In the meantime information about every cultivar that has some official information or description is shown here as "RHS description".
| RHS status | Interpretation |
| accepted name | cultivar is registered and accepted. |
| tentatively accepted name | cultivar is registered and is tentatively accepted. |
| unchecked name | cultivar is not yet checked and consequently not accepted. |
| name not found in literature | cultivar is not registered and not accepted (and this is known by the RHS). |
| (none) | cultivar is not registered and not accepted. |
List of cultivars
Index
List
- Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Barabits Requiem'
RHS status: accepted name
Description:
Elegant weeping form, with a straight up growing top shoot.
More broad and with more light green needles than 'Pendulum'.
The twigs do not hang down that much, which gives the tree a more equal pyramidal shape.
In the winter the needles often have a brownish green colour.
Selected by the late Dr. Elemer Barabits, Barabits Nurseries, Sopron in Hungary.Sometimes the top shoot is not able to grow straight up. Then this cultivar gets a more dramatic outlook: the crown is quite broad with multiple stiff weeping branches reaching the ground.
Dr. Barabits was commissioned by the Soviet authorities in Hungary to select the finest specimens of native trees, as seed sources for a huge afforestation programme in the 1950's. After imprisonment for involvement in the revolution, he became a professor and nurseryman.
A cultivar found by Barabits in Hungary. Up to 15 m tall, weeping form and has a bizarre habit. The top keeps on growing. After taking some cuttings the mother plant dies. That's why the specimens of this cultivar have the somewhat strange name. The branches are hanging almost vertically, but some of them become horizonal again in a more or less wave like fashion. The new foliage always hangs straight down [1].
Photos:
Photo of specimen 292
Photo of specimen 292
Photo of specimen 306
Photo of specimen 306
Photo of specimen 320
Photo of specimen 356
Photo of specimen 357 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Blauer Eichzwerg'
RHS status: accepted name
Description:
Slow growing dwarf form with a compact pyramidal structure.
The branches have a large number of stiff twigs with a number of short, broad scales, compared to the species.
In a sunny place this cultivar gets a greyish blue green colour, in the winter more dull.
This dwarf form was selected from a number of seedling in 1989 by Herbert Rihacek from Austria.Found by Herbert Rihacek from Eichgraben in Austria. A very compact conifer with an irregular, pyramidal habitus with blue to grey green needles. A six year old plant is now 75 cm tall [1].
Photos:
Photo of specimen 310 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Conrad Appel'
RHS status: accepted name
Description:
Dwarf form with bright green foliage.Photos:
Photo of specimen 309 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Hazel Smith'
RHS status: accepted name
RHS description:
The brief description provided was essentially that reproduced in Conifer Quarterly 19: 90 (2002): ?Columnar and strikingly blue-green, hardy to USDA Zone 6 and perhaps Zone 5?. There is no comparision with ?Glaucum? in this publication. The account included ?Ortet growing in the late originators? garden. Originators: Don and Hazel Smith, Watnong Nursery, New Jersey. In May 2000 had height 59 ft, trunk diameter 34 in. (3 ft from ground) after about 40 years; estimated growth rate 1.5 ft per year.? The registrant also noted that it propagated well from cuttings.Description:
American clone.
Pyramidal shape with blue green needles, selected by Don and Hazel Smith, Watnong Nursery in New Jersey.
Less intense 'blue' than the cultivar 'Glaucum' but has a more vigourous growth . Also more hardy than the species.A hardy, somewhat sparse growing from with blue green needles. Looks a bit like 'Glaucum'. A feature of this cultivar is its rapid growth rate: where the species can grow up to 1 m in height a year, with 'Hazel Smith' this is 1.75 m [1].
Photos:
Photo of specimen 159
Photo of specimen 305 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Pygmaeum'
RHS status: accepted name
Description:
A broad plant with a strikingly compact structure. This cultivar was selected in France.
Normally this form does not have a continiously growing top shoot. Grows slowly. The heigth often remains lower than 2 metres.
Some specimens do grow in a conic form and have a top shoot.
Typically has tender, fine and thin needles.Compact, bushy dwarf form that after 50 years is only 4 m tall and has no leader [1].
Photos:
Photo of specimen 313
Photo of specimen 467 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Argentea Spicata'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
Description:
White variegated cultivar with a compact, broad conical growth habit.
Twigs are thin. At the bottom of the trunk this causes a tangled outlook Foliage has white coloured strips.Photos:
Photo of specimen 304
Photo of specimen 304 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Bajojeka'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
Description:
Weeping form. It's not clear in what traits this form differs from the other weeping forms.A Belgian selection with blue needles. The strange name is a combination of the names of family members of the selector of this form. Contrary to the species and a lot of other cultivars, the branches of 'Bajojeka' are horizontal (already at low altitudes) so you can "look through" this type and see the stem quite easy [1].
Photos:
Photo of specimen 319
Photo of specimen 319 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Blue Iceberg'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
- Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Bultinck Yellow'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
Description:
The form and the growth habit is the same as the species but the young sprouting tips are yellow. The eventual height is reportedly lower. Originates from the Bultinck nurseries in Belgium.Bultinck Yellow is a synonym of Sulphurea. Mr. Bultinck found this cultivar as a seedling and first called it Sulphurea. This is a Latin name and may not be used after 1959, so he called it "Bultinck Yellow".
Photos:
Photo of specimen 307
Photo of specimen 307 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Cannibal'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
Description:
Upright, conical growth habit, with a sparse structure of the branches.
The branches have strikingly long side twigs that do not split further. The length of these twigs is 10-14 cm.
The needles are coarse with a top that can be up to 7 mm long.
Selected by Pieter Zwijnenburg Jr. from Boskoop, The Netherlands.Photos:
Photo of specimen 291
Photo of specimen 291
Photo of specimen 358 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'French Beauty'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
Description:
Upright form that is initially quite bushlike. It is less vigourous than the species.
Twigs are thin, upright, and have a large number of white parts.A variegated form [1].
Photos:
Photo of specimen 308
Photo of specimen 308 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Glaucum'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
RHS description:
[Sequoia gigantea glauca Otto in Hamb. Gart. & Bl. Zeit 1860: 478].
All shoots silver-glaucous, sometimes more slender than type (from Carrière 1867); (more blue-green, otherwise little different ? Beissner 1891).Description:
A comparative more narrow and more conic form that grows more slowly than the species.
The foliage is somewhat more grey blue.Reportedly introduced in 1860, two of the original specimens continue to thrive at Elvaston Castle near Derby.
A tall, yet slender growth habitat of which the width of the crown is at most half the width of the species. The crown also stays slender at high altitudes and grows to a width of 8 m. The needles are scale-like and have a silvery greyish blue color. The tree itself has an intense blue grey appearance [1].
Photos:
Photo of specimen 297
Photo of specimen 300
Photo of specimen 322
Photo of specimen 322
Photo of specimen 470
Photo of specimen 470
Photo of specimen 531
Photo of specimen 1037
Photo of specimen 1038
Photo of specimen 1076
Photo of specimen 1182
Photo of specimen 1197
Photo of specimen 1197
Photo of specimen 1198
Photo of specimen 1198
Photo of specimen 1198
Photo of specimen 1198
Photo of specimen 1198
Photo of specimen 1198
Photo of specimen 1198
Photo of specimen 1198
Photo of specimen 1220
Photo of specimen 1261
Photo of specimen 1261 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Greenpeace'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
Description:
This cultivar is only different from the species because of its distinct colour, that we can call grass green or bright emerald-green. Also in the winter this cultivar has a strikingly green yellow colour.A selection with dark green needles [1].
Photos:
Photo of specimen 301
Photo of specimen 301
Photo of specimen 1035
Photo of specimen 1036 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Little Stan'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
Description:
A rather new dwarf form found in a group of seedlings in Deurne. The person who found it named the plant after his little nephew. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Muller'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
Description:
Selected in the Kurt Wittbold-Muller nursery in Verden-Eitze, Germany.Type Wittbold Muller has a similiar growth as 'Glaucum' but is not so bright- blue, more greyblue.
- Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Pendulum'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
Description:
- This is a very narrow, columnar cultivar with top shoot and branches hanging down.
The narrow, upright stem bends a couple of times. From these curves the branches and twigs hang down like manes, which gives the whole a peculiar and dramatic outlook.
This French clone was reportedly selected by a nurseryman in Nantes in 1863. - Selected in Nantes, 1863. Distributed 1873. The branches are inserted almost vertically downwards and their foliage lies closely around the stem. A few retain a vertical axis but many bend over in a hoop, when a few branches will rise vertically from the upper parts. Rare (from "Conifers in the British Isles", A. Mitchell, 1972).
- Spectacular weeping form. The branches are hanging vertically. The leader has no upright top, so this tree always has to be supported in some way if you want to create a weeping cultivar out of it. Because this type is a bit weaker than the species, it is best planted on a sheltered spot, where it is not exposed to the cold eastern wind [1]. At the nursery of Nelis Kools, Deurne, a number of these trees are planted around a pond that are suffering from birds that have broken the soft tops of the trees a couple of times. They cannot be replanted easily so it is best to plant them at the desired spot right away [1].
Photos:
Photo of specimen 295
Photo of specimen 295
Photo of specimen 323
Photo of specimen 323
Photo of specimen 323
Photo of specimen 323
Photo of specimen 323
Photo of specimen 468
Photo of specimen 469
Photo of specimen 1034
Photo of specimen 1034 - This is a very narrow, columnar cultivar with top shoot and branches hanging down.
- Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Pevé Bonsai'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
Description:
A small, slow growing form only about 1 metre high in 10 years. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Philip Curtis'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
Description:
Dwarf form. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Powder Blue'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
Description:
Has beautiful blue needles and apparently grows as fast as 'Hazel Smith' [1]. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Variegatum'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
Description:
Variegated form.Photos:
Photo of specimen 299
Photo of specimen 299
Photo of specimen 367
Photo of specimen 367 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Von Martin'
RHS status: tentatively accepted name
Description:
Dwarf form. A selected seedling of broad pyramidal growth. In 10 years height approx 2.5 to 3 metres. Grey green leaves.Photos:
Photo of specimen 303 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Argenteum'
RHS status: unchecked name
RHS description:
[Sequoia gigantea argentea hort. ex Beissn. (1891)].
Shoots and leaves silver-variegated.Photos:
Photo of specimen 352
Photo of specimen 354
Photo of specimen 354
Photo of specimen 354
Photo of specimen 355
Photo of specimen 355 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Compactum'
RHS status: unchecked name
RHS description:
Presumably correct only if cultivar name is taken from Wellingtonia pyramidata compacta [Otin père et fils ex] Carrière Rev. Hort. 1891: 166, but this source has not been seen cited by the official registrar. Sequoia gigantea glauca pyramidalis compacta Beissn. (1891) is usually cited instead. Beissner in turn cited Wellingtonia gigantea glauca pyramidalis compacta Otin (1889) but with an erroneous place of publication. Presumably he intended the Carrière reference above.
A compact pyramid; branches very many, erect; much-divided; branchlets very dense; leaves very crowded, narrowly and densely imbricate, relatively short and slender, strikingly bluish glaucous especially when young (from Carrière, 1867). No longer in cultivation according to Welch & Haddow, 1993.There are several combinations and variations of the epithets above in use. The registrar believes ?Glaucum? and ?Pyramidale Glaucum? are distinct, but is not sure about the rest.
Description:
A slender and narrow pyramidal form with a compact crown. According to Krüssmann this cultivar reaches a height of 20 m. Found in the Delaunay Nursery in Angers, France.Photos:
Photo of specimen 298
Photo of specimen 321
Photo of specimen 321
Photo of specimen 321
Photo of specimen 321
Photo of specimen 321
Photo of specimen 360 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Neuchatel'
RHS status: unchecked name
Description:
No information.Photos:
Photo of specimen 365
Photo of specimen 365 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Glaucum Compactum'
RHS status: name not found in literature
- Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Albospica'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Most likely a synonym of 'Argentea Spicata'. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Argenteospica'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Most likely a synonym of 'Argentea Spicata'. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Argenteovariegatum'
RHS status: (none)
RHS description:
One reference turned up to a specimen in a list of DeBelten Pinetum, Vorden, 1972, recorded by Welch in the RHS files with no proof that the name had ever been established. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Aurea'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Most likely a synonym of 'Aureum'. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Aureum'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
A slow-growing form with dull yellow new shoots, upswept in rather dense bunches. Very rare. Selected in Cork, Ireland, 1856 (from "Conifers in the British Isles", A. Mitchell, 1972). - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Ayers Rock'
RHS status: (none)
- Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Barts Green'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Selected in Diest-Webbekom, Belgium, by a Sequoiadendron collector. Slowly growing. After 10 years the tree reached a height of approximately 3,5 m. Fresh green foliage, the branches do not die back as much as the species. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Butnick Yellow'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Most likely a synonym of 'Bultinck Yellow'. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Canibuc'
RHS status: (none)
- Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Chief'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Has the typical form of the species but is much more slower growing. After five years this type was only 2 metres tall [1].Photos:
Photo of specimen 293
Photo of specimen 359 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Cream Tower'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Same growth habit as the species but being a lemon colour probably slower growing. Further information in due course after some years of observation (source). - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Curley Green'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Green needles, the small ends of the branches are twisted. Selected by Nelis Kools in Deurne [1]. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Desperado'
RHS status: (none)
Photos:
Photo of specimen 294
Photo of specimen 361
Photo of specimen 361 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Dolimore'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
A selection made in the South Island of New Zealand. Much more compact than the 'Pendulum' form. Still being evaluated (source). - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Dutchman'
RHS status: (none)
- Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Exceptionally Blue'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Cultivar with blue foliage. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'France Beauty'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Most likely a synonym of 'French Beauty'. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Glauca'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Most likely a synonym of 'Glaucum'. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Green Lightening'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
The "lightening" is not a spelling mistake (I mean it was already written like this in my source). Freshgreen needles, the growing is like a normal Sequoiadendron giganteum but is a bit more slender. Selected by Nelis Kools in Deurne. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Green Stone'
RHS status: (none)
Photos:
Photo of specimen 312
Photo of specimen 312 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Highlander'
RHS status: (none)
Photos:
Photo of specimen 302 - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Julian'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
The smallest cultivar in the collection of Nelis Kools in Deurne (the Netherlands). In 7 years only 25 cm high. Very rare, because you cannot take much branches to propagate it. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Kalmthout'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
A synonym of 'Nanum'. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Konrad Apple'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Most likely a synonym of 'Conrad Appel'. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Lacy Blue'
RHS status: (none)
- Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Luzi'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Most likely a synonym of 'Luzzi'. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Luzzi'
RHS status: (none)
- Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Moonie Mini'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Most likely a synonym of 'Moonies Mini'. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Moonies Mini'
RHS status: (none)
RHS description:
?A witch?s broom, main trunk twisted like a pretzel, also the foliage?. (Welch & Haddow, 1993, possibly taken from the originators? catalogue: Bucholz & Bucholz Nurs., Gaston, Pennsylvania). - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Nana'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Most likely a synonym of 'Nanum'. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Nanum'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Cultivar with an egg shaped growth habit. Compact branching with fresh green foliage. Compact shape. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Pendula'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Most likely a synonym of 'Pendulum'. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Pete`s Fastigiate'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
A columnar cultivar found by a nurseryman from Brabant and who named the plant after himself. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Pierie'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
This selection from Nelis Kools has yellow needles and grows more slowly than the species [1]. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Pirat'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
Distributed by Pieter Zwijnenburg, Boskoop.Pirat grows about 10 cm/year.
- Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Powdered Blue'
RHS status: (none)
Description:
This is a synonym of 'Powder Blue'. Powder Blue is the offical name. - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Pyramidale Glaucum'
RHS status: (none)
RHS description:
[Sequoia gigantea pyramidalis glauca Hesse ex Schelle in Mitt. Deutsch. Dendrol. Ges. 29: 45. (1900)].
Conical, glaucous foliage. No longer in cultivation according to Welch & Haddow, 1993. Possibly = 'Glaucum' ? Den Ouden & Boom (1982). - Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Pyramidalis Glauca'
RHS status: (none)
RHS description:
Wellicht synoniem van '