List of largest giant sequoias explained

The giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) is the world's most massive tree, and arguably the largest living organism on Earth. It is neither the tallest extant species of tree (that distinction belongs to the coast redwood), 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). However, with a height of 286order=flipNaNorder=flip or more, a circumference of 113order=flipNaNorder=flip or more, an estimated bole volume of up to 52500order=flipNaNorder=flip, 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 40order=flipNaNorder=flip of wood each year, approximately equal to the volume of a 50-foot-tall tree one foot in diameter. This makes them among the fastest growing organisms on Earth, in terms of annual increase in mass.

Distribution

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 at an altitude of 5000to 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. The northernmost of these groves is Placer County Big Trees Grove in the Tahoe National Forest, Placer County, California, while the southernmost grove is Deer Creek Grove in the Giant Sequoia National Monument, Tulare County, California. The combined total area of all groves of giant sequoias is approximately 35600order=flipNaNorder=flip.^[1]

Fire limits growth

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.^[2] 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.

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.

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. This reduced its height from nearly 255order=flipNaNorder=flip to about 229order=flipNaNorder=flip. 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 115order=flipNaNorder=flip tall.

Tree measurement

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, 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. 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.

List of largest giant sequoias by trunk volume

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	Coordinates	Height	Circumference	Bole Volume	Comments
1	General Sherman	Giant Forest Grove	36.5808°N -118.7508°W	274.9abbr=onNaNabbr=on	102.6abbr=onNaNabbr=on	52508ft3	Named after William Tecumseh Sherman.	^[3]
2	General Grant	General Grant Grove	36.7481°N -118.9708°W	268.1abbr=onNaNabbr=on	107.5abbr=onNaNabbr=on	46608ft3	Named after Ulysses S. Grant; designated as the "Nation's Christmas Tree" since 1926.	^[4]
3	President	Giant Forest Grove	36.5734°N -118.7501°W	240.9abbr=onNaNabbr=on	93abbr=onNaNabbr=on	45148ft3	Named after U.S. President Warren G. Harding.	^[5]
4	Lincoln	Giant Forest Grove	36.5719°N -118.756°W	255.8abbr=onNaNabbr=on	98.3abbr=onNaNabbr=on	44471ft3	Named after Abraham Lincoln.
5	Stagg	Alder Creek Grove	36.1913°N -118.6188°W	243abbr=onNaNabbr=on	109abbr=onNaNabbr=on	42557ft3	Named after Amos Alonzo Stagg.
6	Boole	Converse Basin Grove	36.8239°N -118.9492°W	268.8abbr=onNaNabbr=on	113abbr=onNaNabbr=on	42472ft3	Named after Franklin A. Boole. The tree has the largest footprint of any living giant sequoia.
7	Genesis	Mountain Home Grove	36.2151°N -118.6694°W	253abbr=onNaNabbr=on	85.3abbr=onNaNabbr=on	41897ft3	Named after Genesis. Heavily damaged by the Castle Fire.	^[6]
8	Franklin	Giant Forest Grove	36.5677°N -118.7586°W	223.8abbr=onNaNabbr=on	94.8abbr=onNaNabbr=on	41280ft3	Named after Benjamin Franklin. Located near Washington.
9	King Arthur	Garfield Grove	36.3284°N -118.717°W	270.3abbr=onNaNabbr=on	104.2abbr=onNaNabbr=on	40656ft3	Named after King Arthur. Destroyed in the Castle Fire.	^[7]
10	Monroe	Giant Forest Grove	36.5571°N -118.7694°W	247.8abbr=onNaNabbr=on	91.3abbr=onNaNabbr=on	40104ft3	Named after James Monroe, located near Auto Log.
11	Robert E. Lee	General Grant Grove	36.748°N -118.9711°W	254.7abbr=onNaNabbr=on	88.3abbr=onNaNabbr=on	40102ft3	Named after Robert E. Lee.
12	Floyd Otter	Garfield Grove	36.3275°N -118.717°W	273.1abbr=onNaNabbr=on	99.5abbr=onNaNabbr=on	39562ft3	Named after Floyd Otter, a former manager of the Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest. Possibly heavy damage from Castle Fire.	^[8] ^[9]
13	John Adams	Giant Forest Grove	36.5699°N -118.754°W	250.6abbr=onNaNabbr=on	83.3abbr=onNaNabbr=on	38956ft3	Named after John Adams, located near Cattle Cabin.
14	Ishi Giant	Kennedy Grove	36.7614°N -118.8106°W	248.1abbr=onNaNabbr=on	105.1abbr=onNaNabbr=on	38156ft3	Lost significant trunk volume and over 8m (26feet) in height during the 2015 Rough Fire. New volume and height estimates needed to determine the current size of the tree.
15	Column	Giant Forest Grove	36.5782°N -118.7545°W	243.8abbr=onNaNabbr=on	93abbr=onNaNabbr=on	37295ft3	Located near Pershing.
16	Summit Road	Mountain Home Grove	36.2281°N -118.6712°W	244abbr=onNaNabbr=on	82.2abbr=onNaNabbr=on	36600ft3	Named after a nearby road. Possible heavy damage from the Castle Fire.	^[10]
17	Euclid	Mountain Home Grove	36.2295°N -118.6778°W	272.7abbr=onNaNabbr=on	83.4abbr=onNaNabbr=on	36122ft3	Named after Euclid.
18	Washington	Mariposa Grove	37.5151°N -119.5981°W	236abbr=onNaNabbr=on	95.7abbr=onNaNabbr=on	35901ft3	The largest giant sequoia north of Boole. Named after George Washington. Not to be confused with the Washington tree of Giant Forest Grove.
19	Pershing	Giant Forest Grove	36.5787°N -118.7535°W	246abbr=onNaNabbr=on	91.2abbr=onNaNabbr=on	35855ft3	Named after John J. Pershing.
20	Diamond	Atwell Mill Grove	36.4634°N -118.6974°W	286abbr=onNaNabbr=on	95.3abbr=onNaNabbr=on	35292ft3	Named for a large diamond-shaped scar present on the southeastern side of the trunk.
21	Adam	Mountain Home Grove	36.2434°N -118.6727°W	247.4abbr=onNaNabbr=on	94.2abbr=onNaNabbr=on	35017ft3	Named after Adam.
22	Roosevelt	Redwood Mountain Grove	36.6939°N -118.9189°W	260abbr=onNaNabbr=on	80abbr=onNaNabbr=on	35013ft3	Named after Theodore Roosevelt.
23	Nelder	Nelder Grove	37.4413°N -119.5964°W	266.2abbr=onNaNabbr=on	90abbr=onNaNabbr=on	34993ft3	Named after John A. Nelder.
24	Above Diamond (AD)	Atwell Mill Grove	36.4648°N -118.6934°W	242.4abbr=onNaNabbr=on	99abbr=onNaNabbr=on	34706ft3	Situated just above Diamond, hence the name "AD".
25	Hart	Redwood Mountain Grove		277.9abbr=onNaNabbr=on	75.3abbr=onNaNabbr=on	34407ft3	Named after Michael Hart, who discovered it.
26	Grizzly Giant	Mariposa Grove		209abbr=onNaNabbr=on	92.5abbr=onNaNabbr=on	34005ft3	Originally named the "Grizzled Giant" by Galen Clark.
27	Chief Sequoyah	Giant Forest Grove		228.2abbr=onNaNabbr=on	90.4abbr=onNaNabbr=on	33608ft3	Named after Sequoyah.
28	Methuselah	Mountain Home Grove	36.2403°N -118.6802°W	207.8abbr=onNaNabbr=on	95.8abbr=onNaNabbr=on	32897ft3	Named after Methuselah.
29	Great Goshawk	Freeman Creek Grove		255.2abbr=onNaNabbr=on	90.2abbr=onNaNabbr=on	32783ft3	The largest giant sequoia south of Stagg. Named after the Northern goshawk, a hawk native to the Sierra Nevada.
30	Hamilton	Giant Forest Grove	36.5495°N -118.7652°W	238.5abbr=onNaNabbr=on	82.6abbr=onNaNabbr=on	32783ft3	Named after Alexander Hamilton.
31	Dean	Atwell Mill Grove	36.47°N -118.6828°W	235.9abbr=onNaNabbr=on	96.4abbr=onNaNabbr=on	32333ft3	Named after a carving of the name "Dean" that was found on a charred area of the trunk by Wendell D. Flint in 1950.
32	Black Mountain Beauty	Black Mountain Grove	36.1162°N -118.6752°W	263abbr=onNaNabbr=on	76abbr=onNaNabbr=on	32224ft3	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.	^[11]

Notes

• The trees Named "Franklin", "Column", "Monroe", "Hamilton" and "Adams" were named by Wendell Flint and others. These five are now included on the official map of Giant Forest, where they are all situated.
• The Washington Tree (not listed above) was previously arguably the second largest tree with a volume of 1354.96m² (although the upper half of its trunk was hollow, making the calculated volume debatable), but after losing the hollow upper half of its trunk in January 2005 following a fire, it is no longer of exceptional size. Some sources leave open the possibility that this tree may have been larger than even General Sherman in the past^[12]
• The Hazelwood Tree (not listed above) had a volume of 1025.86m² before losing half its trunk in a lightning storm in 2002, if it were still at full size it would currently be the 17th largest giant sequoia on earth.
• The largest giant sequoia killed at the hands of man was the Discovery Tree at Calaveras Grove, which was cut down a year after its discovery.^[13] Another tree nearby, the huge Mother of the Forest, was mortally wounded when its bark was removed to be put on display on the East Coast.
• The largest giant sequoia ever recorded, as well as potentially the largest tree which ever lived, was the Father of the Forest from Calaveras Grove. The exceedingly enormous tree collapsed centuries ago, and its still relatively well-preserved remains have turned into a popular tourist attraction. The tree was reportedly over 400ft tall and 110ft in circumference when it fell.^{[14] [15]}

See also

• General Noble Tree
• List of giant sequoia groves
• Mother of the Forest
• National Register of Big Trees
• List of individual trees
  • List of oldest trees List of superlative trees
• The House (trees)

Further reading

• Book: Cook, LF. The Giant Sequoias of California. United States Government Printing Office. Washington, D.C.. 1955.
• Book: Dilsaver. LM. Tweed. WC. Challenge of the big trees:a resource history of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. 1st. Sequoia Natural History Association. Three Rivers, California. 1990. 978-1-878441-00-3.
• Book: Otter. FL. Dulitz. DJ. Otter. JI. Otter. MK. The history of a giant sequoia forest: the story of Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest. self-published. Springville, California. 2007. 978-0-9614459-3-5.
• Swetnam. TW. Thomas W. Swetnam. Fire History and Climate Change in Giant Sequoia Groves (abstract). Science. 262. 5135. 885–9. 1993. 17757357. 10.1126/science.262.5135.885. 43064334.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Stewart. Ronald. 1994. Giant Sequoia Management in the National Forests of California.
2. National Geographic Magazine, December 2012
3. 260517. General Sherman Tree.
4. 1667461. General Grant Tree.
5. News: Giant redwood dedicated to memory of late president. National Lumber Bulletin . September 7, 1923 . 13.
6. Web site: 2020 Fire Siege. Cal Fire. 82. George III. Morris. Carrie. Dennis.
7. News: Fire Destroyed 10 Percent of World's Giant Sequoias Last Year—Can They Survive Climate Change?. Smithsonian Magazine. Alex. Fox. 2021-06-11.
8. Web site: The Largest Giant Sequoias by Trunk Volume. December 2012. National Park Service - Sequoia and Kings Canyon. 1 November 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191101074743/https://www.nps.gov/seki/learn/nature/upload/FINAL-30-Largest-Sequoias.pdf. 2019-11-01.
9. Web site: King Arthur Dead. Sue. Cag. I Love Trees. 2021-05-15.
10. Web site: Mountain Home Castle Fire Update. Sue. Cag. 2021-06-25. I Love Trees.
11. Web site: Giant sequoias - long survivors of the forest - succumbing to climate-driven wildfires. 2019-09-12. SFChronicle.com. en-US. 2019-11-17.
12. Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast. Van Pelt, 2001
13. Web site: California Big Trees State Park Historical Marker .
14. Report on the Big Trees of California, United States Forest Service, 1900
15. Web site: "Father of the Forest", a Giant of Giants--fallen centuries ago--originally 435 ft. High, 110 ft. Cir., Calaveras Grove, Cal . .