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Possibly the largest living thing in the whole world – General Sherman is a Giant Sequoia with dimensions that’ll drop many jaws. One of the tallest Giant Sequoia trees in the world reaching 275 feet (84.8 meters), the Sherman Tree is reasonably “juvenile”, as its age is estimated between 2200 years and 2700 years. Moreover, it is the biggest Sequoia in the world when compared in terms of volume. Volume of its trunk measured 1487 cubic meters in 2002.
Located in the Sequoia National Park in the United States, east of Visalia, California, General Sherman owes its name to American Civil War veteran General William Tecumseh Sherman. James Wolverton a Lieutenant in the 9th Indiana Cavalry under Sherman and also a naturalist named the Giant Sequoia after his general in 1879. The tree was reckoned as the largest tree in the world in 1931 after a competition with the General Grant tree. Since then, volume of the tree became the major determining factor for measuring the largeness of a tree.
Certain figures about the dimension of the General Sherman clearly indicate the expanse of the tree. Diameter of the tree 4.5 ft (1.4 m) above height point on ground is 25.1 ft (7.7m), diameter 180 ft (55 m) above base is 14.0 ft 4.3 m, diameter 60 ft (18 m) above base is 17.5 ft (5.3 m) and height of first large branch above the base is 130.0 ft (39.6 m).
Interestingly, the largest branch of the tree broke off in 2006. It was a “golf club” or “L” shaped structure protruding from the around a quarter-height down the trunk. The huge branch with 2 m (6 feet) diameter and a length of 30 m (100 feet) crashed the fence surrounding the tree and created a depression in the walkway pavement. Even after the loss of its largest branch General Sherman remains the largest tree.
