The sequoia seed relies on fire. A blaze crawls on the forest floor, clearing away fallen leaves and broken branches in which a seed might disappear. Rising heat from the fire warms the sequoia’s scaly cones, drying and opening them, setting the flaky brown seeds adrift in smoke-filled air and floating toward a place to grow. On newly uncovered soil, a seed rests in a shaft of sunlight. Roots anchor it to the ground, and a seedling grows, up and up toward golden beams shining through the canopy—the highest layer of branches in the forest. Up and up toward light that has traveled all the way from the sun to the Earth. Sequoia leaves take in that sunlight and also air. Exhale and your breath could become food for a sequoia. Buried in the earth, a sequoia’s roots reach outward, creating a hidden foundation as wide as the tree is tall. Each day, a large sequoia’s roots absorb enough water to fill more than eight bathtubs.