where is and how old is the largest tree in the world?

Question

there was an article in national geographic but no can find!

Answer 1

The world's largest tree, a giant sequoia growing in California's Sequoia National Park, just keeps getting younger. The massive conifer, named General Sherman in 1879 by admirers of the Civil War general, may be little more than 2,000 years old, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study. New age estimates for this and several other famous giant sequoias -- including the General Grant tree, known as the "Nation's Christmas Tree" -- are found in an article by research ecologist Dr. Nate Stephenson of the USGS Western Ecological Research Center in the botanical journal Madroño.

The General Sherman tree measures 275 feet tall and 30 feet across at the base. Early estimates placed the tree's age at 5,000 to 6,000 years, and later at 2,500 to 3,500 years, as techniques for estimating sequoia ages have become more accurate.

"We now think the tree is even younger, perhaps only 2,100 to 2,200 years old," said Stephenson. "The Sherman tree's extreme bulk, more than ten times larger than a blue whale, has long led people to believe that its age was also extreme. The relative youth of the world's largest tree comes as something of a surprise."

Answer 2

Why don't you all look outside N America, there is more of the world, the oldest tree is nearly 10,000 years old in Sweden, there are also trees of a similar age in Australasia.

Answer 3

The General Sherman tree is a Giant Sequoia. It is the largest tree in the world, and generally considered the largest organism, as measured by the volume of its trunk (1487 cubic metres as of 2002). It is approximately 2,200 years old. The tree is located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in the United States, at 36°34′55″N, 118°45′04″W

It was named after General William Tecumseh Sherman, American Civil War leader, by naturalist James Wolverton in 1879. Wolverton had served as a Lieutenant in the 9th Indiana Cavalry under Sherman. Additionally, the utopian socialist community Kaweah Colony, who settled nearby in the 1880s, named it after Karl Marx [1]. The tree was identified as the largest in a 1931 dispute with the nearby General Grant tree, after which wood volume was the widely accepted determining factor

Answer 4

The largest tree, not the tallest, is a Giant Sequoia located in Sequoia
National Park in the southern Sierra Mountains of California. It is called
The General Sherman. It is the largest living organism on Earth. It is about 275
feet tall and 36.5 feet in diameter. It is about 2,300 to 2,700 years old. One
of it's neighbors it The General Grant.

You can see a picture of a Giant Sequoia that had been cut down at the web site
of the Natural History Museum in London at http://www.nhm.ac.uk/museums/lifegal/201/201.html
and read about tham at http://www.kernvalley.com/news/trail100.htm

I am a medical doctor and live in Fresno, California, not very far from Sequoia
National Park and Yosemite National Park. Both of these parks should be on any
tourists list of amazing places to visit in this country.

The worlds tallest trees are the Giant Redwoods along the northern California
Pacific Coast. The worlds first, second and third tallest trees are all close
together in Redwood National Park. They grow to about 367 feet. My son goes to
college at Humbolt State University in Arcata, Ca. There are giant redwoods on
the campus.

Answer 5

According to the researches of Dr A.C. Carder, the tallest tree ever measured was an Australian Eucalyptus regnans at Watts River, Victoria, Australia, reported in 1872 by forester William Ferguson. It was 132.6 m (435 ft) tall and almost certainly measured over 150 m (500 ft) originally.

But the tallest living tree is the Stratosphere Giant measuring 112.7 m (370 ft) as of July 2004. This coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) was discovered by Chris Atkins (USA) in August 2000 in the Rockefeller Forest of the Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California, USA.

Answer 6

the tallest tree alive today is a douglas fir, located in British Columbia, Canada. that is 112.3 metres tall. The tallest tree ever recorded was a douglas fir that reached 126 metres. Scientists theorise that trees could get as tall as 130 metres. There is a limit as to high the pressure of water, in their xylem vessels, that can be generated. Eventually the pressure becomes so great that air bubbles form blocking further water transfer. At these exreme heights the leaves and branches show the symptoms of very low water level stress.
But that tree is by no means the largest tree.

Answer 7

Probably a Sequoia Gigantia in California Sierra Nevada. But the Largest is not the oldest. The oldest is a small Bristle Cone Pine.

Answer 8

The TALLEST tree is a coastal redwood at 350 feet. The LARGEST tree is the General Sherman sequoia in nearby Sequoia National Park. The OLDEST tree is the Bristlecone Pine at 4,767 years old.
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LARGEST:
"The largest tree, General Sherman, has a diameter of 36 feet, and is presently recorded at 275 feet tall.
-The nation's official Christmas Tree also lives here, General Grant, so proclaimed by President Calvin Coolidge in 1926.
-The elements used to factor "largest tree" have more than just height to figure. The "other" sequoias, the Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) are taller, some reaching over 350 feet, but their girth is much smaller, making the Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) the largest tree on Earth.
-Giant Sequoias only grow naturally on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada range."

http://www.adventure-crew.com/parks/SequoiaKingsCanyon.asp
==================
But the largest isn't as old as we used to think:

The General Sherman tree measures 275 feet tall and 30 feet across at the base. Early estimates placed the tree's age at 5,000 to 6,000 years, and later at 2,500 to 3,500 years, as techniques for estimating sequoia ages have become more accurate.
"We now think the tree is even younger, perhaps only 2,100 to 2,200 years old," said Stephenson. "The Sherman tree's extreme bulk, more than ten times larger than a blue whale, has long led people to believe that its age was also extreme. The relative youth of the world's largest tree comes as something of a surprise."
Extremely large trees are not necessarily the oldest, said Stephenson. Tree rings in cut sequoia stumps show that sequoias much smaller than the Sherman tree have reached ages of more than 3,200 years.
"The Sherman tree isn't so large because it's exceptionally old, but because it's growing so fast," said Stephenson. "Each year it adds enough wood to make a tree one foot in diameter and more than 100 feet tall."

http://www.werc.usgs.gov/news/2000-12-06.html

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OLDEST -- a twisted desert mountainside pine tree --!--
–the Bristlecone Pine at 4,767 years
http://www.sonic.net/bristlecone/

Answer 9

The biggest tree in the world is the General Sherman Tree in California. It is a sequoia, but I don't remember how old it is.

Answer 10

(New research suggests that the world's largest tree, the General Sherman tree in Sequoia National Park, Calif., may be a mere 2,100 to 2,200 years old. Photos courtesy National Park Service)



The world's largest tree, a giant sequoia growing in California's Sequoia National Park, just keeps getting younger. The massive conifer, named General Sherman in 1879 by admirers of the Civil War general, may be little more than 2,000 years old, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study. New age estimates for this and several other famous giant sequoias -- including the General Grant tree, known as the "Nation's Christmas Tree" -- are found in an article by research ecologist Dr. Nate Stephenson of the USGS Western Ecological Research Center in the botanical journal Madroño.

The General Sherman tree measures 275 feet tall and 30 feet across at the base. Early estimates placed the tree's age at 5,000 to 6,000 years, and later at 2,500 to 3,500 years, as techniques for estimating sequoia ages have become more accurate.

"We now think the tree is even younger, perhaps only 2,100 to 2,200 years old," said Stephenson. "The Sherman tree's extreme bulk, more than ten times larger than a blue whale, has long led people to believe that its age was also extreme. The relative youth of the world's largest tree comes as something of a surprise."

Extremely large trees are not necessarily the oldest, said Stephenson. Tree rings in cut sequoia stumps show that sequoias much smaller than the Sherman tree have reached ages of more than 3,200 years.

"The Sherman tree isn't so large because it's exceptionally old, but because it's growing so fast," said Stephenson. "Each year it adds enough wood to make a tree one foot in diameter and more than 100 feet tall."

The new age estimate relies on tree-ring measurements from pencil-thin, foot-long cores of wood removed from near the base the Sherman tree, and mathematical formulas based on measurements from hundreds of sequoia stumps. The age-estimate technique was developed as part of a study by Stephenson and his colleagues to determine the effects of past changes in climate and fire frequency on giant sequoias.

"The new Sherman tree age estimate of about 2,150 years could still be off by centuries," Stephenson conceded. "Getting a precise age measurement would require boring a hole several inches wide all the way to the center of the tree."

"We don't want to risk harming this special tree by removing such a large core," said Bill Tweed, acting superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

The new age estimates of other famous sequoias likewise suggest more youthful trees. Stephenson estimated that the General Grant tree is only about 1,650 years old, and the popular Grizzly Giant tree of Yosemite National Park is only about 1,800 years old.

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

As the nation's largest water, earth and biological science and civilian mapping agency, the USGS works in cooperation with more than 2000 organizations across the country to provide reliable, impartial, scientific information to resource managers, planners, and other customers. This information is gathered in every state by USGS scientists to minimize the loss of life and property from natural disasters, contribute to the sound conservation, economic and physical development of the nation's natural resources, and enhance the quality of life by monitoring water, biological, energy, and mineral resources.