General Sherman ( tree ) - wikipedia General Sherman ( tree ) A view of the General Sherman, the largest single stem tree in the world Looking upward from the base of the General Sherman located in California 's Sequoia National Park A child standing under the tree. The General Sherman in Winter. General Sherman is a giant sequoia ( Sequoiadendron giganteum ) tree located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in Tulare County, in the U.S. state of California. By volume, it is the largest known living single - stem tree on Earth. While the General Sherman is the largest currently living tree, it is not the largest historically - recorded tree. The Crannell Creek Giant, a coast redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens ) near Trinidad, California, is estimated to have been 15 to 25 % larger than the General Sherman tree by volume. That tree was cut down in the mid-1940s. Another larger coast redwood, near 90,000 cubic feet, the Lindsey Creek tree, was reported in a 1905 Humboldt Times Standard article. Contents 1 History 2 Dimensions 3 See also 4 References 5 External links History The General Sherman was named after the American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman, in 1879 by naturalist James Wolverton, who had served as a lieutenant in the 9th Indiana Cavalry under Sherman. 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. 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 -- larger than most tree trunks ; diameter over 2 m ( 6.6 ft ) and length over 30 m ( 98 ft ) -- 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. 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 the Hyperion tree, a Coast redwood ), 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 ( that distinction belongs to a Great Basin bristlecone pine ). With a height of 83.8 meters ( 275 ft ), a diameter of 7.7 m ( 25 ft ), an estimated bole volume of 1,487 m ( 52,513 cu ft ), and an estimated age of 2,300 -- 2,700 years, it is nevertheless among the tallest, widest, and longest - lived of all trees on the planet. Height above base 274.9 ft 83.8 m Circumference at ground 102.6 ft 31.3 m Maximum diameter at base 36.5 ft 11.1 m Diameter 4.50 ft ( 1.37 m ) above height point on ground 25.1 ft 7.7 m Girth Diameter 60 ft ( 18 m ) above base 17.5 ft 5.3 m Diameter 180 ft ( 55 m ) above base 14.0 ft 4.3 m Diameter of largest branch 6.8 ft 2.1 m Height of first large branch above the base 130.0 ft 39.6 m Average crown spread 106.5 ft 32.5 m Estimated bole volume 52,508 cu ft 1,487 m Estimated mass ( wet ) ( 1938 ) 2,105 short tons 1,910 t Estimated bole mass ( 1938 ) 2,472,000 lb 1,121 t See also List of largest giant sequoias List of superlative trees List of trees List of oldest trees National Register of Big Trees References ^ Jump up to : `` The General Sherman Tree ''. Sequoia National Park. U.S. National Park Service. 1997 - 03 - 27. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 12. Jump up ^ Vaden, Mario D. `` Crannell Creek Giant ''. Jump up ^ Landmark Trees. `` Crannell Creek Giant ''. Jump up ^ Van Pelt, Robert. `` The Trees ''. Forest Giants. Archived from the original on 2011 - 07 - 11. Jump up ^ Tweed, William ( 2006 - 02 - 07 ). `` Sequoias designed to last a couple of thousand years ''. Visalia Times Delta. Jump up ^ Earle, CJ ( 2011 ). `` Sequoia sempervirens ''. The Gymnosperm Database. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 12. Jump up ^ Earle, CJ ( 2011 ). `` Pinus longaeva ''. The Gymnosperm Database. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 13. Jump up ^ Stephenson, N.L. ( January 2002 ). `` Estimated Ages of Some Large Giant Sequoias : General Sherman Keeps Getting Younger ''. Nature Notes. Yosemite Association. 2. Jump up ^ Martin, Glen ( 2006 - 09 - 07 ). `` World 's tallest trees ''. The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 2009. Check date values in : accessdate = ( help ) Jump up ^ Records, Guinness World ( 2007 - 08 - 07 ). Guinness World Record 2008, World 's Tallest Tree. ISBN 978 - 1 - 904994 - 19 - 0. Retrieved January 2009. Check date values in : accessdate = ( help ) ^ Jump up to : Flint, Wendell D. ( 1987 ). To Find the Biggest Tree. Sequoia National History Association. p. 94. ^ Jump up to : Fry, Walter ; White, John Roberts ( 1942 ). Big Trees. Palo Alto, California : Stanford University Press. `` General Sherman Tree ''. Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to General Sherman Tree. `` 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. `` 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. Coordinates : 36 ° 34 ′ 54 '' N 118 ° 45 ′ 05.5 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 36.58167 ° N 118.751528 ° W ﻿ / 36.58167 ; - 118.751528 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=General_Sherman_(tree)&oldid=855086698 '' Categories : Individual giant sequoia trees Individual trees in California Sequoia National Park Natural history of Tulare County, California Hidden categories : CS1 errors : dates Coordinates on Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Español Euskara فارسی Français Galego Հայերեն Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Magyar Македонски മലയാളം Nederlands 日本 語 پنجابی Polski Português Ripoarisch Русский Slovenčina Suomi Svenska తెలుగు اردو Tiếng Việt 中文 23 more Edit links This page was last edited on 15 August 2018, at 21 : 05 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: what is the largest tree in the united states
Answer: General Sherman