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TREES

General Sherman is the single biggest tree alive.

This giant sequoia in California weighs about 1,200 tonnes - heavier than 200 elephants.

2 min read
General Sherman is the single biggest tree alive.
THE FULL STORY

Deep in California’s Sequoia National Park stands a tree with a name and a number: General Sherman. It isn’t the tallest tree on Earth, and it isn’t the oldest. But by total volume of wood, it’s the single largest living thing you’ll ever stand next to.

Sherman has been quietly growing for around 2,200 years. That means it was already a tree when the Roman Empire was just getting started. Park rangers fence off its roots because so many tourists tromping the ground could compact the soil and starve it of water.

The really wild bit: it’s still growing. Each year Sherman packs on roughly 40 cubic feet of new wood - enough volume to make a brand-new 18-metre tree. After 22 centuries, it hasn’t slowed down.

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