General Sherman (tree)

A view of the General Sherman, the largest single stem tree in the world

A child standing under the tree

General Sherman is a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) tree located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in Tulare County, in the U.S. state of California. By volume, it is the largest known living single stem tree on Earth. The General Sherman Tree is neither the tallest known living tree on Earth (that distinction belongs to the Hyperion tree, a Coast redwood), nor is it the widest (both the largest cypress and largest baobab have a greater diameter), nor is it the oldest known living tree on Earth (that distinction belongs to a Great Basin bristlecone pine). With a height of 83.8 meters (275 ft), a diameter of 7.7 m (25 ft), an estimated bole volume of 1,487 m³ (52,513 cu ft), and an estimated age of 2,300–2,700 years, it is nevertheless among the tallest, widest and longest-lived of all trees on the planet.

While the General Sherman is the largest currently living tree, it is not the largest tree known to humans. The Crannell Creek Giant, a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) near Trinidad, California, is estimated to have been 15 to 25% larger than the General Sherman tree by volume. The tree was cut down in the mid-1940s. Another larger coast redwood, near 90,000 cubic feet., the Lindsey Creek tree, was reported in a 1905 Humboldt Times Standard article.

History

The General Sherman was purportedly named after the American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman, in 1879 by naturalist James Wolverton, who had served as a lieutenant in the 9th Indiana Cavalry under Sherman. In 1931, following comparisons with the nearby General Grant tree, General Sherman was identified as the largest tree in the world. One result of this process was that wood volume became widely accepted as the standard for establishing and comparing the size of different trees.

In February 1978, a four-foot diameter, 140-foot-long (43 m) branch collapsed from the tree. This collapse better revealed its largest branch, which was a little higher on the tree and, curiously, had a similar size, shape and position on the tree (leaving the appearance of the tree relatively unchanged). The remainder of this branch is visible from the classic viewpoint as the second large stump up the trunk on the right. In January 2006 the largest branch on the tree (seen most commonly, in older photos, as an "L" or golf-club shape, protruding from about a quarter of the way down the trunk) also broke off. There were no witnesses to the incident, and the branch—with a bigger circumference than the trunks of most trees, a diameter of over 2 meters (7 ft) and a length of over 30 m (98 ft)—smashed part of its enclosing fence and cratered the pavement of the walkway surrounding the sequoia. The breakage, however, is not believed to be indicative of any abnormalities in the tree's health, and may even be a natural defense mechanism against adverse weather conditions.

Dimensions

Looking upward from the base of the General Sherman located in California's Sequoia National Park

Height above base	274.9 ft	83.8 m
Circumference at ground	102.6 ft	31.3 m
Maximum diameter at base	36.5 ft	11.1 m
Diameter 4.5 ft (1.4 m) above height point on ground	25.1 ft	7.7 m
Diameter 60 ft (18 m) above base	17.5 ft	5.3 m
Diameter 180 ft (55 m) above base	14.0 ft	4.3 m
Diameter of largest branch	6.8 ft	2.1 m
Height of first large branch above the base	130.0 ft	39.6 m
Average crown spread	106.5 ft	32.5 m
Estimated bole volume	52,508 cu ft	1,487 m3
Estimated mass (wet) (1938)	2,105 short tons	1,910 t
Estimated bole mass (1938)	2,472,000 lb	1,121 t

See also

• List of largest giant sequoias
• List of superlative trees
• List of trees
• National Register of Big Trees

External links

• More images and info about General Sherman
• "What is the largest tree in the world?" Video of a park ranger at Sequoia National Park explaining details about the General Sherman Tree
• Norton, Marc. "The Karl Marx Tree: How Southern Pacific Railroad killed a socialist colony in the name of creating Yosemite National Park," Red Hills, August 27, 2014.