The largest trees in total volume are those which are both tall and of large diameter, and in particular, which hold a large diameter high up the trunk. Measurement is very complex, particularly if branch volume is to be included as well as the trunk volume, so measurements have only been made for a small number of trees, and generally only for the trunk. No attempt has ever been made to include root volume. Measuring standards vary.
The top five species measured so far are:
- Giant Sequoia Sequoiadendron giganteum: 1,487 m³ (52,508 cu ft), General Sherman
- Coast Redwood Sequoia sempervirens: 1,203 m³ (42,500 cu ft), Lost Monarch
- Montezuma Cypress Taxodium mucronatum: 750 m³ (25,000 cu ft), Árbol del Tule
- Western Redcedar Thuja plicata: 500 m³ (17,650 cu ft ), Quinault Lake Redcedar
- Kauri Agathis australis: circa 400 m³ (15,000 cu ft), Tane Mahuta tree (total volume, including branches, 516.7 m³/18,247 cu ft)
General Sherman is the name of a Giant Sequoia with a height of 275 feet (83.8 metres). As of 2002, the volume of its trunk measured about 1487 cubic meters, making it the largest non-clonal tree by volume. The tree is located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in the United States, east of Visalia, California. The tree is believed to be between 2,300 and 2,700 years old.In 1879, it was named after American Civil War general, William Tecumseh Sherman, 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 upshot of this process was that wood-volume was widely accepted as the defining factor in establishing the world's largest tree.
Source: wikipedia.org
