The Sequoia

Polly went to Mariposa Grove. It is full of giant sequoias. They are the biggest trees in the world.

Polly tog til Mariposa Grove. Det er fyldt med kæmpe sequoiaer. De er de største træer i verden.

Sequoia bark is not brown. It is deep orange. Polly landed on a branch. She pecked the bark with her beak. It was soft. The bark was very thick. The thick bark protects the tree from fire.

Sequoia-barken er ikke brun. Den er dyb orange. Polly landede på en gren. Hun hakkede på barken med sit næb. Den var blød. Barken var meget tyk. Den tykke bark beskytter træet mod ild.

A family walked past. A little girl said, "Look, a parrot!" Her father said, "It is a toy." Polly did not move.

En familie gik forbi. En lille pige sagde: "Se, en papegøje!" Hendes far sagde: "Det er et legetøj." Polly rørte sig ikke.

She flew up the tree. At thirty metres up, the branches started. They were thick. She perched on one. The top of the tree was still far above.

Hun fløj op i træet. Ved tredive meters højde begyndte grenene. De var tykke. Hun satte sig på en af dem. Toppen af træet var stadig langt over hende.

The biggest tree was called the Grizzly Giant. It was about 3,000 years old. Its trunk was wider than a bus.

Det største træ hed Grizzly Giant. Det var omkring 3.000 år gammelt. Dets stamme var bredere end en bus.

Polly perched on the trunk. She looked up.

Polly satte sig på stammen. Hun kiggede op.

Three thousand years. The tree was already old when Rome was a small village.

Tre tusind år. Træet var allerede gammelt, da Rom var en lille landsby.

Polly stayed a long time. There was an old fire mark on the trunk. The tree had survived many fires.

Polly blev der længe. Der var et gammelt brandmærke på stammen. Træet havde overlevet mange brande.

A small seed fell past her. Sequoia seeds need fire to grow. The cones open only in heat. New trees grow after a burn.

Et lille frø faldt forbi hende. Sequoiafrø har brug for ild for at vokse. Koglerne åbner sig kun i varme. Nye træer vokser efter en brand.