Biggest Living Things on Earth
The General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park
Photo and story by Ray Boren
The enormous General Sherman Tree in California’s Sequoia National Park is thought to be the most massive sequoia tree in the world – though not the oldest.
Named for General William Tecumseh Sherman, who commanded troops under General Ulysses Grant during the U.S. Civil War, this stout specimen stands 275 feet tall. The volume of its trunk is approximately 52,500 cubic feet, as measured in 2002.
The coastal redwoods, a related species, are the tallest living things on Earth.
The Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) is native to the western slope of the southern Sierra Nevada range.
Note: In an earlier posting of this story, we mistakenly called the Sequoias the tallest trees on earth. Thanks for the correction in one of the comments below.
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