General Sherman

General Sherman is a giant redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) in California’s Sequoia National Park. At 83.8m in height and 11m in diameter it’s the largest known living single-stem tree on Earth, visited by two million people annually.

Named after the American Civil War general, William Tecumseh Sherman, this world-famous tree is believed to be 2,300 to 2,700 years old. It was cited as the world’s largest tree in 1931 after a change in standards and comparison to the nearby General Grant, another giant sequoia.

Incidentally, the world’s tallest tree is also in California. Hyperion, a 600-800-year-old coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in Redwood National Park measuring over 116m.

In 2006 General Sherman lost its largest branch which was a trunk-sized 30m long and 2m wide. The breakage isn’t thought to be related to poor health and may even be a defence mechanism.

General Sherman survived a major fire in 2021 that killed roughly 2,000 giant sequoias. The forest fires of that time are thought to have killed 3-5% of the species’ population.

Giant redwood (or sequoia) is part of the Cupressaceae (cypress) family and Sequoioideae (sequoia) sub-family.  It’s native to western US, where it’s an endangered species (< 80,000) but has been extensively exported to mainly temperate zones.

This species’ super-thick, fibrous bark has evolved with its environment and resists fire well, reaching an unmatchable 90cm of thickness. In fact, the species needs periodic fire to clear competing vegetation and soil humus.

As a conifer, giant redwood produces seed cones, with largest specimens able to disperse 300k-400k winged seeds from 11,000 of them. It’s also a pioneer species that can thrive on barren land but is susceptible to shade-tolerant species that prevent its seed germination.

General Sherman cover photo by Clementp.fr, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiki)

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General Sherman’s average crown spread is 32.5m but the largest is Australia’s aptly-named Monkira Monster, a coolabah once recorded at 72.8m. Ripper.

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Giant redwood’s evergreen leaves are 3-6mm long and awl-shaped (pictured). Its cones take 18-20 months to mature but can remain closed for up to 20 years.

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