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The "General Sherman" is a giant sequoia growing in Sequoia National Park, California, that happens to be the largest living thing on Earth. This tree is 275' tall and its crown spreads 107'. The trunk is more than 26' in diameter. The General Sherman is believed to be 2,500 years old, and weigh more than 1000 tons. John Muir called the giant sequoia "the noblest of a noble race." The giant sequoia is a columnar or cone-shaped tree, losing its lower branches and becoming flat-topped with age. Trees more than 100 years old typically are free of branches to a height of 100' or more. In cultivation, giant sequoias usually grow no more than 60-100' tall and retain their lower branches which may droop down to touch the ground and sometimes take root. The reddish brown bark is very thick (up to 20" thick) and deeply fissured. The bright gray-green leaves are scale-like, sharp-pointed, 1/4" long, overlapping each other, and completely covering the twigs. The egg shaped cones are 3" long, and remain on the tree for up to 20 years. Unlike the related California redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), giant sequoia does not sprout from the roots.The General Sherman is considered to be the largest giant sequoia because of a combination of height, canopy spread and trunk diameter. However, some giant sequoias are closer to 300' tall, and some California redwoods and coast Douglas-firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), although not as massive as giant sequoias, are even taller.
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