The General Sherman Tree

The General Sherman is a giant sequoia tree located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in Tulare County, California. By volume, it is the largest known living single stem tree on Earth. With a height of 83.8 metres (275 ft), a diameter of 7.7 metres (25 ft), an estimated bole (trunk) volume of 1,487 cubic metres (52,513 cu ft), and an estimated age of 2,300 – 2,700 years.

In 1879 this tree was named after American Civil War general, William Tecumseh Sherman, 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.