World's largest tree getting younger, scientists say

While sequoias are the largest trees in the world, their size does not necessarily indicate their age, according to researchers

December 12, 2000
Web posted at: 1:54 PM EST (1854 GMT)

SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- The world's largest tree, a 275-foot (84-meter) giant sequoia, is significantly younger than previously estimated, with scientists saying on Thursday it may only be about 2,000 years old.

The tree in California's Sequoia National Park, dubbed "General Sherman" in 1879 by admirers of the U.S. Civil War general, was once thought to be 6,000 years old.

But research ecologist Nate Stephenson of the United States Geological Survey said new tree-ring estimates of the tree's age had shaved off as much as 4,000 years.

"The Sherman tree isn't so large because it's exceptionally old, but because it's growing so fast," Stephenson said in a news release.

General Sherman is not the tallest tree in the world, a title that goes to "the Mendocino Tree," an 800-year-old redwood tree which towers more than 367 feet (112 meters) above the forest floor near the northern California town of Ukiah.

But the huge sequoia is widely believed to be the biggest, measuring some 30 feet (9 meters) across at its base and having a total bulk more than 10 times that of a blue whale.

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Stephenson said that research on sequoias showed that the largest trees are not necessarily the oldest, with tree rings cut in stumps smaller than the Sherman tree indicating ages of more than 3,200 years.

General Sherman, however, is still growing fast, adding enough wood each year to make a tree one-foot (30 cm) in diameter 100 feet (30 meters) taller.

Stephenson reached his conclusions about the tree's age by taking tree-ring measurements from pencil-thin core samples of wood taken from near General Sherman's base.

"The new Sherman tree-age estimate of about 2,150 years could still be off by centuries," Stephenson said, adding that further study was hampered by concern over the effects of expanded core sample drilling into the tree.

"Most of the largest sequoias are really just middle-aged," Stephenson said. "But they're still growing like teenagers -- at a fast and furious rate."

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Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
U.S. Geological Survey

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