General Grant Tree
{{short description|Giant sequoia in Kings Canyon National Park, California}}
File:General Grant Tree in Kings Canyon National Park.jpg, Kings Canyon National Park]]
The General Grant Tree is the largest giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) in the General Grant Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park in California, and the second largest giant sequoia tree in the world after the General Sherman Tree. Once thought to be well over 2,000 years old, recent estimates suggest the General Grant Tree is closer to 1,650 years old.{{cite news|title=Nation's Christmas tree aged 1,650 General Grant in Kings Canyon National Park no young whippersnapper|newspaper=Oakland Tribune|date=8 December 2003|first=Douglas|last=Fischer|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-6974521.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105181149/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-6974521.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 November 2012}} The tree also features the third largest footprint of any living giant sequoia, measuring {{convert|107.6|ft|m|abbr=on}} in circumference at ground level.
History
The tree was named in 1867 after Ulysses S. Grant, Union Army general and the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877). President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed it the "Nation's Christmas Tree" on April 28, 1926. Due in large part to its huge base, the General Grant Tree was thought to be the largest tree in the world prior to 1931, when the first precise measurements indicated that the General Sherman Tree was slightly larger. On March 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared the tree a "National Shrine", a memorial to those who died in war. It is the only living object to be so declared.{{cite web |url=http://www.sequoia.national-park.com/info.htm |title=Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Information Page |author=National Park Service |access-date=2007-03-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070328195728/http://www.sequoia.national-park.com/info.htm#bea |archive-date=2007-03-28 }}
In September 2003, the General Grant Tree moved up one place in the giant sequoia size rankings when the Washington Tree lost its crown and the hollow upper half of its trunk after a fire caused by a lightning strike.
Dimensions
| class="wikitable" |
| Height above base
| {{Convert|267.4|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=table}} |
|---|
| Circumference at ground
| {{Convert|107.6|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=table}} |
| Diameter {{Convert|4.5|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} above highest point on ground
| {{Convert|28.9|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=table}} |
| Diameter {{Convert|60|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} above base
| {{Convert|16.3|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=table}} |
| Diameter {{Convert|180|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} above base
| {{Convert|12.9|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=table}} |
| Estimated bole volume{{cite book|last=Flint|first=Wendell D.|title=To Find the Biggest Tree|publisher=Sequoia National Forest Association|year=1987|page=94}}
| {{Convert|46608|ft3|m3|0|abbr=on|disp=table}} |
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons and category}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050828043733/http://www.nps.gov/seki/grantwlk/gg1.htm Virtual Grant Tree Walk]
- {{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/seki/xmastree.htm |title=General Grant: Our Nation's Christmas Tree |author= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224081801/http://www.nps.gov/archive/seki/xmastree.htm |archive-date=2010-12-24}}
- [https://www.nps.gov/seki/learn/nature/largest-trees-in-world.htm The largest giant sequoias by trunk volume]
{{coord|36.7488|-118.9709|region:US_type:landmark|display=title}}
{{Ulysses S. Grant}}
{{Kings Canyon National Park}}
{{List of official United States national symbols}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:General Grant Tree}}