Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Pendulum' - Cardiff, Wales, UK - Sequoioideae Trees on Waymarking.com

This weeping sequoia is in the botanical gardens part of Roath Park, a historical park in the Cyncoed area of Cardiff.

The tree originally stood upright but over the years has toppled over and is now held up by a metal arch over the path.

I spoke to the head gardener of the park and the manager of the nearby glasshouse but neither were able to tell me how old the tree is. All I know is that my mother recalls being taken on walks as a child around the park and that would have been in the late 1930s. The tree therefore is at least 70 years old.

There is a nice old picture of the tree in the image library and the attached web link which details the following about the species:


The weeping sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Pendulum') probably originated in Nantes, France, in 1863, while another specimen of the same form was grown from seed at a nursery in Carlisle, England, and still another at Versailles, France. This form is the commonest of the species' horticultural varieties, with specimens found in the British Isles, France, Switzerland, and perhaps elsewhere in Europe.

The growth form of the weeping sequoia is one of shortened, drooping branches, in striking contrast to the sequoia's normal form. Some of the trees are straight of habit, but commonly they bend over in grotesque forms, more interesting than beautiful. A specimen in Cambridgeshire, England, takes the form of a large hoop, 40 ft long. One, at Somerset, forms a 42-ft arch, while one in Sussex turns horizontal at 40 ft. Nelmes (1964) refers to the specimen in Roath Park in Cardiff, Wales, as the "ugliest tree in Britain" (Fig. 4). This form is not common in the United States, where the only living specimens known at present are on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, and the San Jose State University in San Jose.

Gattung / Species: Riesenmammutbaum (Sequoiadendron giganteum) Anordnung / Arrangement: Einzelner Baum / Standalone tree Webseite / website: [Web Link] Baumhöhe / Height of the tree (m): 15 Baumdurchmesser / Diameter of the tree (m): 1 Alter / age: 70 Standort / Location: Park / Park Eintrittsgebühr / Fee: 0 Parkkoordinaten / Parking coordinates: Not Listed

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Date Logged Log   05/06/2013 Superted visited it