The giant sequoia ( Sequoiadendron giganteum ) is the world's most massive tree, [1] [2] and arguably the largest living organism on Earth. [3] It is neither the tallest extant species of tree (that distinction belongs to the coast redwood), [4] [5] nor is it the widest (that distinction belongs to the African baobab or the Montezuma cypress), nor is it the longest-lived (that distinction belongs to the Great Basin bristlecone pine). [6] However, with a height of 87 meters (286 ft) or more, a circumference of 34 meters (113 ft) or more, an estimated bole volume of up to 1,490 cubic meters (52,500 cu ft), and a documented lifespan of 3266 years, the giant sequoia is among the tallest, widest, and longest-lived of all organisms on Earth.
Giant sequoias grow in well-defined groves in California mixed evergreen forests, along with other old-growth species such as California incense cedar. Because most of the neighboring trees are also quite large, it can be difficult to appreciate the size of an individual giant sequoia. The largest giant sequoias are as tall as a 26-story building, and the width of their bases can exceed that of a city street. They grow at such a rate as to produce roughly 1.1 cubic meters (40 cu ft) of wood each year, approximately equal to the volume of a 50-foot-tall tree one foot in diameter. [7] This makes them among the fastest growing organisms on Earth, in terms of annual increase in mass.
Giant sequoias occur naturally in only one place on Earth—the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California, on moist, unglaciated ridges and valleys [8] at an altitude of 1,500 to 2,400 meters (5,000 to 8,000 ft) above mean sea level. There are 65–75 groves of giant sequoias in the Sierra Nevada, depending upon the criteria used to define a grove. [2] [9] The northernmost of these groves is Placer County Big Trees Grove in the Tahoe National Forest, Placer County, California, [10] while the southernmost grove is Deer Creek Grove in the Giant Sequoia National Monument, Tulare County, California. [9] The combined total area of all groves of giant sequoias is approximately 14,400 hectares (35,600 acres). [11]
Giant sequoias are in many ways adapted to forest fires. Their bark is unusually fire resistant, and their cones will normally open immediately after a fire. [12] However, fire is also the most serious damaging agent of giant sequoias. Seedlings and saplings are highly susceptible to death or serious injury by fire. Larger giant sequoias are more resistant to fire damage, due to their thick protective layer of nonresinous bark and elevated crowns. However, repeated fires over many centuries may penetrate the bark and destroy the vascular cambium. Nearly all of the larger trees have fire scars, many of which cover a large area of the base of the tree. Older trees are rarely killed by fire alone, but the resulting structural damage may predispose a tree to collapse and fire scars also provide entry for fungi which may cause root disease and heart rot. The resulting decayed wood is then more easily consumed by subsequent fires. The result of this cycle is further structural weakening of the tree, which may eventually lead to its collapse. [13]
Fire scars are thought to be the main cause of dead tops. Although lightning strikes rarely kill mature trees, lightning sometimes knocks out large portions of crowns or ignites dead tops. The most common cause of death in mature giant sequoias is toppling, due to weakening of the roots and lower trunk by fire and decay. The extreme weight of the trees coupled with their shallow root systems contributes to this weakening. Other causative factors include wind, water-softened soils, undercutting by streams, and heavy snow loads in the crowns. [13]
The Washington tree, located in the Giant Forest Grove in Sequoia National Park provides a good example of the aforementioned phenomenon. This tree was the second-largest tree in the world (only the General Sherman tree was larger) until September 2003, when the tree lost a portion of its crown as a result of a fire caused by a lightning strike. [1] [14] This reduced its height from nearly 78 meters (255 ft) to about 70 meters (229 ft). The structurally weakened tree partially collapsed in January 2005, as the result of a heavy snow load in the remaining portion of its crown; it is now approximately 35 meters (115 ft) tall. [1] [15]
As with other trees, measurement of giant sequoias is conducted using established dendrometric techniques. The most frequent measurements acquired in the field include the height of the tree, the horizontal dimension of its canopy, and its diameter at breast height (DBH). These measurements are then subjected to tree allometry, which employs certain mathematical and statistical principles to estimate the amount of timber volume in a tree.
Calculating the volume of a standing tree is the practical equivalent of calculating the volume of an irregular cone, [16] and is subject to error for various reasons. This is partly due to technical difficulties in measurement, and variations in the shape of trees and their trunks. Measurements of trunk circumference are taken at only a few predetermined heights up the trunk, and assume that the trunk is circular in cross-section, and that taper between measurement points is even. Also, only the volume of the trunk (including the restored volume of basal fire scars) is taken into account, and not the volume of wood in the branches or roots. [16] The volume measurements also do not take cavities into account. For example, while studying sequoia tree canopies in 1999, researchers discovered that the Washington tree in Giant Forest Grove was largely hollow. [15]
The following table is a list of the largest giant sequoias, all of which are located in California. The table is sorted by trunk volume, ignoring wood in the branches of the tree.
indicates a giant sequoia that sustained heavy fire damage after its most recent volume estimate.
Rank | Name | Location [17] | Coordinates | Height [17] | Circumference [17] | Bole Volume [17] | Comments | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | General Sherman | Giant Forest Grove | 36°34′51″N118°45′03″W / 36.58083°N 118.75083°W | 83.8 m (274.9 ft) | 31.3 m (102.6 ft) | 1,486.9 m3 (52,508 cu ft) | Named after William Tecumseh Sherman. | [18] [16] [19] |
2 [note 1] | General Grant | General Grant Grove | 36°44′53″N118°58′15″W / 36.74806°N 118.97083°W | 81.7 m (268.1 ft) | 32.8 m (107.5 ft) | 1,319.8 m3 (46,608 cu ft) [note 1] | Named after Ulysses S. Grant; designated as the "Nation's Christmas Tree" since 1926. | [20] [21] |
3 [note 1] | President | Giant Forest Grove | 36°34′24″N118°45′00″W / 36.57341°N 118.75010°W | 73.4 m (240.9 ft) | 28.3 m (93.0 ft) | 1,278.4 m3 (45,148 cu ft) [note 1] | Named after U.S. President Warren G. Harding. | [24] |
4 | Lincoln | Giant Forest Grove | 36°34′19″N118°45′22″W / 36.57187°N 118.75604°W | 78.0 m (255.8 ft) | 30.0 m (98.3 ft) | 1,259.3 m3 (44,471 cu ft) | Named after Abraham Lincoln. | [25] |
5 | Stagg | Alder Creek Grove | 36°11′29″N118°37′08″W / 36.19131°N 118.61878°W | 74.1 m (243.0 ft) | 33.2 m (109.0 ft) | 1,205.1 m3 (42,557 cu ft) | Named after Amos Alonzo Stagg. | [26] |
6 | Boole | Converse Basin Grove | 36°49′26″N118°56′57″W / 36.82389°N 118.94917°W | 81.9 m (268.8 ft) | 34.4 m (113.0 ft) | 1,202.7 m3 (42,472 cu ft) | Named after Franklin A. Boole. The tree has the largest footprint of any living giant sequoia. | [25] |
7 | Genesis | Mountain Home Grove | 36°12′54″N118°40′10″W / 36.215119°N 118.669395°W | 77.1 m (253.0 ft) | 26.0 m (85.3 ft) | 1,186.4 m3 (41,897 cu ft) | Named after Genesis. Heavily damaged by the Castle Fire. | [27] [28] |
8 | Franklin | Giant Forest Grove | 36°34′04″N118°45′31″W / 36.56771°N 118.75864°W | 68.2 m (223.8 ft) | 28.9 m (94.8 ft) | 1,169 m3 (41,280 cu ft) | Named after Benjamin Franklin. Located near Washington. | [25] |
9 | King Arthur | Garfield Grove | 36°19′42″N118°43′01″W / 36.32838°N 118.71703°W | 82.4 m (270.3 ft) | 31.8 m (104.2 ft) | 1,151.2 m3 (40,656 cu ft) | Named after King Arthur. Destroyed in the Castle Fire. | [25] [29] |
10 | Monroe | Giant Forest Grove | 36°33′26″N118°46′10″W / 36.55710°N 118.76939°W | 75.5 m (247.8 ft) | 27.8 m (91.3 ft) | 1,135.6 m3 (40,104 cu ft) | Named after James Monroe, located near Auto Log. | [25] |
11 | Robert E. Lee | General Grant Grove | 36°44′53″N118°58′16″W / 36.7480°N 118.9711°W | 77.6 m (254.7 ft) | 26.9 m (88.3 ft) | 1,135.6 m3 (40,102 cu ft) | Named after Robert E. Lee. | [25] |
12 | Floyd Otter | Garfield Grove | 36°19′39″N118°43′01″W / 36.32748°N 118.71696°W | 83.2 m (273.1 ft) | 30.3 m (99.5 ft) | 1,120.3 m3 (39,562 cu ft) | Named after Floyd Otter, a former manager of the Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest. Possibly heavy damage from Castle Fire. | [25] [30] |
13 | John Adams | Giant Forest Grove | 76.4 m (250.6 ft) | 25.4 m (83.3 ft) | 1,103.1 m3 (38,956 cu ft) | Named after John Adams, located near Cattle Cabin. | [25] | |
14 | Ishi Giant | Kennedy Grove | 36°45′41″N118°48′38″W / 36.76143°N 118.81062°W | 75.6 m (248.1 ft) | 32.0 m (105.1 ft) | 1,080.5 m3 (38,156 cu ft) | Lost significant trunk volume and over 8 m (26 ft) in height during the 2015 Rough Fire. New volume and height estimates needed to determine the current size of the tree. | [31] |
15 | Column | Giant Forest Grove | 74.3 m (243.8 ft) | 28.3 m (93.0 ft) | 1,056.1 m3 (37,295 cu ft) | Located near Pershing. | [25] | |
16 | Summit Road | Mountain Home Grove | 36°13′41″N118°40′16″W / 36.22813°N 118.67117°W | 74.4 m (244.0 ft) | 25.1 m (82.2 ft) | 1,040 m3 (36,600 cu ft) | Named after a nearby road. Possible heavy damage from the Castle Fire. | [25] [32] |
17 | Euclid | Mountain Home Grove | 36°13′46″N118°40′40″W / 36.22949°N 118.67776°W | 83.1 m (272.7 ft) | 25.4 m (83.4 ft) | 1,022.9 m3 (36,122 cu ft) | Named after Euclid. | [25] |
18 | Washington | Mariposa Grove | 37°30′54″N119°35′53″W / 37.51507°N 119.59806°W | 71.9 m (236.0 ft) | 29.2 m (95.7 ft) | 1,016.6 m3 (35,901 cu ft) | The largest giant sequoia north of Boole. Named after George Washington. Not to be confused with the Washington tree of Giant Forest Grove. | [25] |
19 | Pershing | Giant Forest Grove | 36°34′43″N118°45′12″W / 36.57869°N 118.75347°W | 75.0 m (246.0 ft) | 27.8 m (91.2 ft) | 1,015.3 m3 (35,855 cu ft) | Named after John J. Pershing. | [25] |
20 | Diamond | Atwell Mill Grove | 36°27′48″N118°41′51″W / 36.46343°N 118.69740°W | 87.2 m (286.0 ft) | 29.0 m (95.3 ft) | 999.4 m3 (35,292 cu ft) | Named for a large diamond-shaped scar present on the southeastern side of the trunk. | [25] |
21 | Adam | Mountain Home Grove | 36°14′36″N118°40′22″W / 36.243404°N 118.672651°W | 75.4 m (247.4 ft) | 28.7 m (94.2 ft) | 991.6 m3 (35,017 cu ft) | Named after Adam. | [33] |
22 | Roosevelt | Redwood Mountain Grove | 36°41′38″N118°55′08″W / 36.69389°N 118.91889°W | 79.2 m (260.0 ft) | 24.4 m (80.0 ft) | 991.5 m3 (35,013 cu ft) | Named after Theodore Roosevelt. | [25] |
23 | Nelder | Nelder Grove | 37°26′29″N119°35′47″W / 37.44127°N 119.59644°W | 81.1 m (266.2 ft) | 27.4 m (90.0 ft) | 990.9 m3 (34,993 cu ft) | Named after John A. Nelder. | [25] |
24 | Above Diamond (AD) | Atwell Mill Grove | 36°27′53″N118°41′36″W / 36.46477°N 118.69341°W | 73.9 m (242.4 ft) | 30.2 m (99.0 ft) | 982.8 m3 (34,706 cu ft) | Situated just above Diamond, hence the name "AD". | [25] |
25 | Hart | Redwood Mountain Grove | 84.7 m (277.9 ft) | 23.0 m (75.3 ft) | 974.3 m3 (34,407 cu ft) | Named after Michael Hart, who discovered it. | [34] [25] | |
26 | Grizzly Giant | Mariposa Grove | 37°30′12.65″N119°36′2.39″W / 37.5035139°N 119.6006639°W | 63.7 m (209.0 ft) | 28.2 m (92.5 ft) | 962.9 m3 (34,005 cu ft) | Originally named the "Grizzled Giant" by Galen Clark. | [25] |
27 | Chief Sequoyah | Giant Forest Grove | 36°34′26″N118°45′00″W / 36.57379°N 118.75°W | 69.6 m (228.2 ft) | 27.6 m (90.4 ft) | 951.7 m3 (33,608 cu ft) | Named after Sequoyah. | [25] |
28 | Methuselah | Mountain Home Grove | 36°14′25″N118°40′49″W / 36.240254°N 118.680249°W | 63.3 m (207.8 ft) | 29.2 m (95.8 ft) | 931.5 m3 (32,897 cu ft) | Named after Methuselah. | [25] |
29 | Great Goshawk | Freeman Creek Grove | 77.8 m (255.2 ft) | 27.5 m (90.2 ft) | 928.3 m3 (32,783 cu ft) | The largest giant sequoia south of Stagg. Named after the Northern goshawk, a hawk native to the Sierra Nevada. | [25] | |
30 | Hamilton | Giant Forest Grove | 36°32′58″N118°45′55″W / 36.54954°N 118.76517°W | 72.7 m (238.5 ft) | 25.2 m (82.6 ft) | 928.3 m3 (32,783 cu ft) | Named after Alexander Hamilton. | [25] |
31 | Dean | Atwell Mill Grove | 36°28′12″N118°40′58″W / 36.46995°N 118.68276°W | 71.9 m (235.9 ft) | 29.4 m (96.4 ft) | 915.6 m3 (32,333 cu ft) | Named after a carving of the name "Dean" that was found on a charred area of the trunk by Wendell D. Flint in 1950. | [ citation needed ] |
32 | Black Mountain Beauty | Black Mountain Grove | 36°06′58″N118°40′31″W / 36.11623°N 118.67518°W | 80.2 m (263.0 ft) | 23.2 m (76.0 ft) | 912.5 m3 (32,224 cu ft) | Also known as "Black Mountain Shaft". The tree lost significant volume after it burned during the 2017 Pier Fire. New volume estimate needed to determine the current volume of the tree. | [31] |
Sequoiadendron giganteum, also known as the giant sequoia, giant redwood, Sierra redwood or Wellingtonia is a coniferous tree, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae. Giant sequoia specimens are the most massive trees on Earth. They are native to the groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California but have been introduced, planted, and grown around the world.
General Sherman is a giant sequoia tree located at an elevation of 2,109 m (6,919 ft) above sea level 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 Grant tree is the largest giant sequoia in the General Grant Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park in California, and the second largest giant sequoia tree in the world after the General Sherman tree. Once thought to be well over 2,000 years old, recent estimates suggest the General Grant tree is closer to 1,650 years old. The tree also features the third largest footprint of any living giant sequoia, measuring 107.6 ft (32.8 m) in circumference at ground level.
Sequoia National Park is a national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects 404,064 acres of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly 13,000 feet (4,000 m), the park contains the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4,421 m) above sea level. The park is south of, and contiguous with, Kings Canyon National Park; both parks are administered by the National Park Service together as Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. UNESCO designated the areas as Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve in 1976.
The Giant Sequoia National Monument is a 328,000-acre (512 sq mi) U.S. National Monument located in the southern Sierra Nevada in eastern central California. It is administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Sequoia National Forest and includes 38 of the 39 Giant Sequoia groves that are located in the Sequoia National Forest, about half of the sequoia groves currently in existence, including one of the ten largest Giant Sequoias, the Boole Tree, which is 269 feet (82 m) high with a base circumference of 112 feet (34 m). The forest covers 824 square miles (2,130 km2).
Nelder Grove, located in the western Sierra Nevada within the Sierra National Forest in Madera County, California, is a Giant sequoia grove that was formerly known as Fresno Grove. The grove is a 1,540-acre (6.2 km2) tract containing 60 mature Giant Sequoia trees, the largest concentration of giant sequoias in the Sierra National Forest. The grove also contains several historical points of interest, including pioneer cabins, giant sequoia stumps left by 19th-century loggers, and the site where the Forest King exhibition tree was felled in 1870 for display.
Mariposa Grove is a sequoia grove located near Wawona, California, United States, in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park. It is the largest grove of giant sequoias in the park, with several hundred mature specimens. Two of its trees are among the 30 largest giant sequoias in the world. The grove attracts about one million visitors annually.
The Washington tree is a giant sequoia in the Giant Forest Grove in Tulare County, California, within Sequoia National Park. It is named after George Washington, first President of the United States. Until it partially collapsed in January 2005, the Washington tree was the second largest tree in the world. Though badly damaged, the tree is still living.
Sequoia National Forest is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The U.S. National Forest is named for the majestic Giant Sequoia trees which populate 38 distinct groves within the boundaries of the forest.
Redwood Mountain Grove is the largest grove of giant sequoia trees on earth. It is located in Kings Canyon National Park and Giant Sequoia National Monument on the western slope of California's Sierra Nevada. The grove contains the world's tallest giant sequoia. The Hart Tree and Roosevelt Tree grow in the grove and are two of the 25 largest trees by volume in the world. The largest tree is the General Sherman Tree in the Giant Forest grove to the southeast.
The Giant Forest, famed for its giant sequoia trees, is within the United States' Sequoia National Park. This montane forest, situated at over 6,000 ft (1,800 m) above mean sea level in the western Sierra Nevada of California, covers an area of 1,880 acres (7.6 km2). The Giant Forest is the most accessible of all giant sequoia groves, as it has over 40 mi (64 km) of hiking trails.
Converse Basin Grove is a grove of giant sequoia trees in the Giant Sequoia National Monument in the Sierra Nevada, in Fresno County, California, 5 miles (8 km) north of General Grant Grove, just outside Kings Canyon National Park. Once home to the largest population of giant sequoias in the world, covering 4,600 acres (19 km2) acres, the grove was extensively logged by the Sanger Lumber Company at the turn of the 20th century. The clearcutting of 8,000 giant sequoias, many of which were over 2,000 years old, resulted in the destruction of the old-growth forest ecosystem.
Franklin is a giant sequoia in Giant Forest, a sequoia grove where the largest tree in the world lives - the General Sherman. The Franklin tree is the eighth largest giant sequoia in the world. It was named by Wendell Flint after Benjamin Franklin. Nearby trees include the Washington Tree which was once the second largest tree in the world, but since it lost half its trunk in 2005 many sequoias are now larger.
Ishi Giant is a giant sequoia in California, United States. It is located in Kennedy Grove, which is part of a group of eight closely spaced giant sequoia groves situated in Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada in eastern central California. It was the 14th largest giant sequoia in the world before it atrophied during the Rough Fire in 2015.
The Hart Tree is a Giant sequoia tree within the Redwood Mountain Grove, in the Sierra Nevada and Fresno County, California. The Redwood Mountain Grove is protected within Kings Canyon National Park and the Giant Sequoia National Monument. It is the 25th largest giant sequoia in the world, and could be considered the 24th largest depending on how badly Ishi Giant atrophied during the Rough Fire in 2015.
Sequoia sempervirens is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae. Common names include coast redwood, coastal redwood and California redwood. It is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living 1,200–2,200 years or more. This species includes the tallest living trees on Earth, reaching up to 115.9 m (380.1 ft) in height and up to 8.9 m (29 ft) in diameter at breast height. These trees are also among the longest-living trees on Earth. Before commercial logging and clearing began by the 1850s, this massive tree occurred naturally in an estimated 810,000 ha along much of coastal California and the southwestern corner of coastal Oregon within the United States. Being the tallest tree species, with a small range and an extremely long lifespan, many redwoods are preserved in various state and national parks; many of the largest specimens have their own official names.
The General Noble Tree was a monumental giant sequoia situated in the Converse Basin Grove, within the boundaries of the Giant Sequoia National Monument, in Fresno County, California. It was believed to be the biggest tree in the world before it was felled in 1892 to become an exhibition tree at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It was the largest tree ever felled.
The Methuselah Tree is a giant sequoia located in Mountain Home State Forest, a sequoia grove located in Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada in eastern California. It is the 28th largest giant sequoia in the world, and could be considered the 27th largest depending on how badly Ishi Giant atrophied during the Rough Fire in 2015.
Black Mountain Grove is a giant sequoia grove containing more than 150 relatively young trees located in a ravine on the southwestern slope of Black Mountain, a minor peak of the San Jacinto Mountains in Riverside County, California.