Editing General Sherman Tree

{{Short description|Giant sequoia in Giant Forest, California}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox tree
| name          = General Sherman
| image         = General Sherman en californie a séquoia parc.jpg
| image_caption = General Sherman
| image_size    = 250
| map           = California
| map_size      = 250
| relief        = 1
| species       = Giant sequoia
| binomial      = ''[[Sequoiadendron giganteum]]''
| coordinates   = {{coord|36|34|54|N|118|45|05.5|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title|format=dms}}
| height        = {{cvt|83.8|m}}
| diameter      = {{cvt|7.7,|m}}
| volume        = {{cvt|1487|m3|ft3}}
| seeded        = 700 BC – 300 BC
}}
The '''General Sherman Tree''' is a giant sequoia (''[[Sequoiadendron giganteum]]'') tree in the [[Giant Forest]] of [[Sequoia National Park]] in [[Tulare County, California|Tulare County]], [[California]]. By volume, it is the [[List of largest giant sequoias|largest known living single-stem tree]] on Earth.<ref name="NPS-1997">{{Cite web |date=March 27, 1997 |title=The General Sherman Tree |url=http://www.nps.gov/seki/naturescience/sherman.htm |access-date=August 12, 2011 |website=Sequoia National Park |publisher=U.S. National Park Service}}</ref>

==History==
The General Sherman Tree was named after the [[American Civil War]] general [[William Tecumseh Sherman]]. The official story, which may be [[apocryphal]], claims the tree was named in 1879 by [[naturalist]] James Wolverton, who had served as a [[lieutenant]] in the 9th Indiana Cavalry under Sherman.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tweed |first=William |date=September 26, 2014 |title=A famous name and a mystery |url=https://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/sports/outdoors/pathstopeaks/2014/09/27/famous-name-mystery/16319207/ |access-date=May 21, 2020 |website=Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register |language=en}}</ref>

Seven years later, in 1886, the land came under the control of the [[Kaweah Colony]], a [[utopian socialist]] community whose economy was based on logging. Noting the pivotal role that Sherman had played in the [[American Indian Wars|Indian Wars]] and his forced relocation of native American tribes, they renamed the tree in honor of [[Karl Marx]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Daegan |title=This Radical Land; A natural history of American dissent |date=2018 |publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref> However, the community was disbanded in 1892, primarily as a result of the establishment of Sequoia National Park, and the tree reverted to its previous name.

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.<ref name="NPS-1997" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Van Pelt |first=Robert |title=The Trees |url=http://www.forestgiants.com/thetrees4.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711020054/http://www.forestgiants.com/thetrees4.htm |archive-date=July 11, 2011 |website=Forest Giants}}</ref>

In January 2006, the largest branch on the tree (seen most commonly, in older photos, as an "L" or golf-club shape, protruding from about a quarter of the way down the trunk) broke off. There were no witnesses to the incident, and the branch{{mdashb}}with a diameter of over {{cvt|2|m|ft|abbr=on}} and a length of over {{convert|30|m|ft}}, larger than most tree trunks{{mdashb}}smashed part of the perimeter fence and cratered the pavement of the surrounding walkway. The breakage is not believed to be indicative of any abnormalities in the tree's health and may even be a natural defense mechanism against adverse weather conditions.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tweed |first=William |date=February 7, 2006 |title=Sequoias designed to last a couple of thousand years |url=http://www.iatp.org/news/sequoias-designed-to-last-a-couple-of-thousand-years-ca |publisher=[[Visalia Times Delta]]}}</ref>

[[File:General Sherman with fire protection wrap.jpg|thumb|alt=Six firefighters clad in yellow gear place sheets of silver foil around the tree's base, slightly above the height of their heads.|Firefighters and park personnel wrap General Sherman in fire shelter material to help protect it from the [[KNP Complex Fire]].]]

On September{{nbsp}}16, 2021, the tree was threatened by the [[KNP Complex Fire]] in Sequoia National Park. Park and firefighting personnel wrapped the tree's base in a protective foil usually used on structures in case the wildfire approached the General Sherman Tree{{mdashb}}which, in the end, was left unharmed.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 17, 2021 |title=California fires: General Sherman and other sequoias given blankets |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58592376 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307165140/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58592376 |archive-date=March 7, 2023 |access-date=March 27, 2023 |work=[[BBC News]] |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebrahimji |first=Alisha |last2=Elam |first2=Stephanie |date=September 17, 2021 |title=Officials wrapped the world's largest tree in protective foil to guard it against California wildfires |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/sequoias-wrapped-knp-complex-fire-trnd/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209071503/https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/sequoias-wrapped-knp-complex-fire-trnd/index.html |archive-date=December 9, 2022 |access-date=March 27, 2023 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref>

==Dimensions==
While it is the largest tree known, the General Sherman tree is neither the tallest known living tree on Earth (that distinction belongs to [[Hyperion (tree)|Hyperion]], a [[Sequoia sempervirens|coast redwood]]),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Earle |first=CJ |year=2011 |title=Sequoia sempervirens |url=http://www.conifers.org/cu/se/index.htm |access-date=August 12, 2011 |website=The Gymnosperm Database}}</ref> nor is it the widest (both the largest [[cypress]] and largest [[baobab]] have a greater diameter), nor is it the oldest known living tree on Earth ([[List of oldest trees|that distinction]] belongs to [[Prometheus (tree)|Prometheus]], a [[Pinus longaeva|Great Basin bristlecone pine]]).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Earle |first=CJ |year=2011 |title=Pinus longaeva |url=http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_longaeva.php |access-date=August 13, 2011 |website=The Gymnosperm Database}}</ref> With a height of {{cvt|83.8|m|ft|0|sp=us}}, a diameter of {{cvt|7.7|m|ft|0}}, an estimated [[Trunk (botany)|bole]] volume of {{convert|1487|m3|ft3|0}}, and an estimated age of 2,300{{ndash}}2,700 years,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stephenson |first=N.L. |date=January 2002 |title=Estimated Ages of Some Large Giant Sequoias: General Sherman Keeps Getting Younger |url=http://sierranaturenotes.com/naturenotes/SequoiaAges.htm |url-status=dead |journal=Nature Notes |publisher=Yosemite Association |volume=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323130546/http://sierranaturenotes.com/naturenotes/SequoiaAges.htm |archive-date=March 23, 2012 |access-date=May 3, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Glen |date=September 7, 2006 |title=World's tallest trees |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/07/MNGQRL0TDV1.DTL |access-date=January 29, 2009 |work=The San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Records, Guinness World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yixctMoUFRsC&q=guinness+records&pg=PA10 |title=Guinness World Record 2008, World's Tallest Tree |publisher=Guinness World Records |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-904994-19-0 |access-date=January 29, 2009}}</ref> it is nevertheless among the tallest, widest, and [[List of oldest trees|longest-lived]] of all trees on the planet.

While General Sherman is the largest currently living tree, it is not the largest historically recorded tree. The [[Lindsay Creek Tree]], with more than {{convert|90000|cuft|m3|abbr=off|sp=us}}<ref>"535,000 board feet of merchantable timber" [https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/largest-tree-ever-recorded.60805/ Largest Tree Ever Recorded] (UBC Botanical Garden, February 4, 2010)</ref> almost twice the volume of General Sherman, was reported felled by a storm in 1905.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vaden |first=Mario D. |title=Crannell Creek Giant |url=http://www.mdvaden.com/redwood_crannell_creek_giant.shtml}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Landmark Trees |title=Crannell Creek Giant |url=http://www.landmarktrees.net/elam.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130629094644/http://www.landmarktrees.net/elam.html |archive-date=June 29, 2013}}</ref> Another larger tree, the Crannell Creek Giant, a coast redwood (''[[Sequoia sempervirens]]'') cut down in the mid-1940s near [[Trinidad, California]], is estimated to have been 15&ndash;25% larger than the General Sherman Tree by volume. Similarly, the [[Mother of the Forest]], another giant sequoia, may have historically been larger than General Sherman. Two other historical and exceedingly enormous giant sequoias, the [[Discovery Tree]] with a near-{{convert|30|m|ft}} circumference,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Placer Herald 9 July 1853 — California Digital Newspaper Collection |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=PH18530709.2.8&srpos=1&e=------185-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22captain+hanford%22+-------1}}</ref> and especially the long-fallen "Father of the Forest" from Calaveras Grove, reportedly {{convert|435|ft|m}} high and {{convert|110|ft|m}} in circumference,<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 1902 |title="Father of the Forest", a Giant of Giants--fallen centuries ago--originally 435 ft. High, 110 ft. Cir., Calaveras Grove, Cal |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2018645419/ |website=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref> are widely considered to have once been larger than General Sherman. In addition, the Burnt Monarch from [[Big Stump Grove]] had a much larger base than General Sherman and could have easily been larger as well.<ref>Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast. Van Pelt, 2001</ref> 

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Measurement
! Imperial units
! SI units
|-
! Height above base<ref name="NPS-1997" />
| {{convert|274.9|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=table}}
|-
! Circumference at ground<ref name="NPS-1997" />
| {{convert|102.6|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=table}}
|-
! Maximum diameter at base<ref name="NPS-1997" />
| {{convert|36.5|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=table}}
|-
! Diameter {{cvt|4.50|ft|m|2}} above base<ref name="Flint-1987">{{Cite book |last=Flint |first=Wendell D. |title=To Find the Biggest Tree |publisher=Sequoia National History Association |year=1987 |page=94}}</ref>
| {{convert|25.1|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=table}}
|-
! Diameter {{cvt|60|ft|m|0}} above base<ref name="NPS-1997" />
| {{convert|17.5|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=table}}
|-
! Diameter {{cvt|180|ft|m|0}} above base<ref name="NPS-1997" />
| {{convert|14.0|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=table}}
|-
! Diameter of largest branch<ref name="NPS-1997" />
| {{convert|6.8|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=table}}
|-
! Height of first large branch above the base<ref name="NPS-1997" />
| {{convert|130.0|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=table}}
|-
! Average crown spread<ref name="NPS-1997" />
| {{convert|106.5|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=table}}
|-
! Estimated [[Trunk (botany)|bole]] volume<ref name="Flint-1987" />
| {{convert|52508|ft3|m3|0|abbr=on|disp=table}}
|-
! Estimated mass (wet) (1938)<ref name="Fry-1942">{{Cite book |last=Fry |first=Walter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDCsAAAAIAAJ&q=trunk+%222%2C471%2C994+pounds%22+%22total+estimated+weight%22+%224%2C299%2C851+pounds%22&pg=PA47 |title=Big Trees |last2=White |first2=John Roberts |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1942 |isbn=9780804716383 |location=Palo Alto, California}}</ref>
|{{cvt|2105|ST|MT|0|abbr=on|disp=table}}
|-
! Estimated [[Trunk (botany)|bole]] mass (1938)<ref name="Fry-1942"/>
| {{convert|2472000|lb|MT|0|abbr=on|disp=table}}<!-- Fry estimates trunk's weight as "2,471,994 pounds" -->
|}

==See also==
* [[List of largest giant sequoias]]
* [[List of superlative trees]]
* [[List of individual trees]]
* [[List of oldest trees]]
* [[National Register of Big Trees]]

==References==
{{reflist|33em}}

==External links==
{{Commons and category}}

* {{Cite gnis|id=260517|name=General Sherman Tree}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSwFmUyQn2Q "What is the largest tree in the world?"] Video of a park ranger at Sequoia National Park explaining details about the General Sherman Tree
* Norton, Marc. [https://48hills.org/2014/08/karl-marx-tree-southern-pacific-railroad-killed-socialist-colony-name-creating-yosemite-national-park/ "The Karl Marx Tree: How Southern Pacific Railroad killed a socialist colony in the name of creating Yosemite National Park"], ''Red Hills'', August 27, 2014.

{{Sequoia National Park}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Individual giant sequoia trees]]
[[Category:Natural history of Tulare County, California]]
[[Category:Sequoia National Park]]
[[Category:William Tecumseh Sherman|Tree]]