Hobbies And Interests
General Sherman
General Sherman is the name given to a particular giant sequoia in Giant Forest, which is part of Sequoia National Park in central California. It is a distinctive tree because of the massive volume that it takes up, which is the largest of any known tree. In 1975 the General Sherman was calculated to be slightly over 52,500 cubic feet, which is massive.
Sequoias
There are currently two species of sequoia that still exist, which are the Sequoiadendron giganteum, or giant sequoia, and the Sequoia sempervirens, or the redwood. The sequoias are thought to have originated somewhere around 100 million years ago, and were once widespread throughout temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Ice ages have done considerable damage to the species, however, and only the two previously mentioned species still exist, but only along a relatively narrow strip of the Pacific coast of the United States.
Tallest Trees
Though the General Sherman is a giant sequoia, the distinction of tallest tree in the world belongs to the redwood branch of sequoias. Currently, the title of tallest tree in the world belongs to Hyperion, a redwood in Redwood National Park that tops out at 379.1 feet. The General Sherman, by comparison, is only 275 feet tall.
Widest Trees
Though the giant sequoias are renowned for their massive trunks, the General Sherman is also not the widest tree in existence. That distinction goes to the Baobab tree, which is found mainly in Africa. Big Baobab, which is also sometimes referred to as Sunland Baobab, is roughly 154 feet in circumference, significantly larger than the General Sherman, which is only 102.6 feet in circumference. The Bib Baobab is only 72 feet tall.