The most massive living thing on earth is the Giant Sequoias in the Redwood Forest of California. There are taller trees but no other compares to its volume and weight.

The General Sherman Tree, located in Sequoia National Park, is the single largest living thing on Earth. It weighs approximately 2.7 million pounds, stands 274.9 feet tall and is believed to be around 2,100 years old. And, it’s still growing!

Sequoia bark is fibrous, furrowed, and may be 90 cm (3 ft) thick at the base of the columnar trunk. It provides significant fire protection for the trees. The seed cones are 4-7 cm long and mature in 18-20 months, though they typically remain green and closed for up to 20 years; each cone has 30-50 spirally arranged scales, with several seeds on each scale giving an average of 230 seeds per cone. At any given time, a large tree may be expected to have approximately 11,000 cones. The seed is dark brown, 4-5 mm long and 1 mm broad, with a 1 mm wide yellow-brown wing along each side. Some seed is shed when the cone scales shrink during hot weather in late summer, but most seeds are liberated when the cone dries out from fire heat and/or insect damage.

Categories: Plants