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24-700: Standing at an impressive height of 300 feet (91 m) with a ground circumference of 95 feet (29 m), the General Noble Tree was a symbol of nature's grandeur. It was the second largest tree in the Converse Basin Grove, only surpassed by the Boole Tree , and was listed among the top 30 largest trees by volume worldwide prior to its felling. The tree, named after Secretary of the Interior John Willock Noble ,

48-549: A height of 87 meters (286 ft) or more, a circumference of 34 meters (113 ft) or more, an estimated bole volume of up to 1,490 cubic meters (52,500 cu ft), and a documented lifespan of 3266 years, the giant sequoia is among the tallest, widest, and longest-lived of all organisms on Earth. Giant sequoias grow in well-defined groves in California mixed evergreen forests , along with other old-growth species such as California incense cedar . Because most of

72-424: A large grove, but was logged of most of its giant sequoias between 1892 and 1918. Now only perhaps 60–100 large specimens survive out of thousands. However, this grove is still the second largest contiguous grove in the world. The Boole Tree was named around 1895 by A.H. Sweeny, a Fresno doctor, after Franklin A. Boole, a supervisor of the logging operation who spared the tree due to its great size. The Boole Tree

96-410: A rough mountain road. The King's River Lumber Company executed this demanding task, dividing the tree into 46 smaller sections, some of which weighed over 4 tons each. These sections were then transported by train, requiring 11 railroad cars to complete the journey from California to Chicago. The total cost of cutting, shipping, and installing the tree amounted to $ 10,475.87. C.C. Curtis photographed

120-415: Is conducted using established dendrometric techniques. The most frequent measurements acquired in the field include the height of the tree, the horizontal dimension of its canopy, and its diameter at breast height (DBH). These measurements are then subjected to tree allometry , which employs certain mathematical and statistical principles to estimate the amount of timber volume in a tree. Calculating

144-536: Is even. Also, only the volume of the trunk (including the restored volume of basal fire scars) is taken into account, and not the volume of wood in the branches or roots. The volume measurements also do not take cavities into account. For example, while studying sequoia tree canopies in 1999, researchers discovered that the Washington tree in Giant Forest Grove was largely hollow. The following table

168-437: Is further structural weakening of the tree, which may eventually lead to its collapse. Fire scars are thought to be the main cause of dead tops. Although lightning strikes rarely kill mature trees, lightning sometimes knocks out large portions of crowns or ignites dead tops. The most common cause of death in mature giant sequoias is toppling, due to weakening of the roots and lower trunk by fire and decay. The extreme weight of

192-737: Is the eighth tallest sequoia in the world and is the largest in terms of base circumference at 113 feet. It is estimated to be more than 2,000 years old. The tree's stature is accentuated by its isolation above the Kings River where it towers over the rest of the forest. The Boole tree is the largest in the Converse Basin Grove , which is 5 miles (8 km) from the General Grant Grove in Kings Canyon National Park . Converse Basin used to be

216-573: Is the world's most massive tree, and arguably the largest living organism on Earth. It is neither the tallest extant species of tree (that distinction belongs to the coast redwood ), nor is it the widest (that distinction belongs to the African baobab or the Montezuma cypress ), nor is it the longest-lived (that distinction belongs to the Great Basin bristlecone pine ). However, with

240-441: Is unusually fire resistant, and their cones will normally open immediately after a fire. However, fire is also the most serious damaging agent of giant sequoias. Seedlings and saplings are highly susceptible to death or serious injury by fire. Larger giant sequoias are more resistant to fire damage, due to their thick protective layer of nonresinous bark and elevated crowns . However, repeated fires over many centuries may penetrate

264-621: The General Sherman tree was larger) until September 2003, when the tree lost a portion of its crown as a result of a fire caused by a lightning strike. This reduced its height from nearly 78 meters (255 ft) to about 70 meters (229 ft). The structurally weakened tree partially collapsed in January 2005, as the result of a heavy snow load in the remaining portion of its crown; it is now approximately 35 meters (115 ft) tall. As with other trees, measurement of giant sequoias

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288-685: The Converse Basin area, firefighters ensured its survival by protecting the Chicago Stump with fire-resistant shelters. This conifer -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Fresno County, California -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Boole (tree) The Boole Tree is a giant sequoia in the Giant Sequoia National Monument , Fresno County , California . The Boole Tree

312-482: The area following logging, the tree stands out at a height of 268 feet. It is likely growing faster due to a lack of competition in its modified environment, and its survival may also be attributed to the reduction of fuel in the area since logging ceased in the 1900s. 36°49′26″N 118°56′57″W  /  36.82389°N 118.94917°W  / 36.82389; -118.94917 List of largest giant sequoias The giant sequoia ( Sequoiadendron giganteum )

336-461: The bark and destroy the vascular cambium . Nearly all of the larger trees have fire scars, many of which cover a large area of the base of the tree. Older trees are rarely killed by fire alone, but the resulting structural damage may predispose a tree to collapse and fire scars also provide entry for fungi which may cause root disease and heart rot . The resulting decayed wood is then more easily consumed by subsequent fires. The result of this cycle

360-544: The criteria used to define a grove. The northernmost of these groves is Placer County Big Trees Grove in the Tahoe National Forest , Placer County, California , while the southernmost grove is Deer Creek Grove in the Giant Sequoia National Monument , Tulare County, California . The combined total area of all groves of giant sequoias is approximately 14,400 hectares (35,600 acres). Giant sequoias are in many ways adapted to forest fires. Their bark

384-545: The fastest growing organisms on Earth, in terms of annual increase in mass. Giant sequoias occur naturally in only one place on Earth—the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California , on moist, unglaciated ridges and valleys at an altitude of 1,500 to 2,400 meters (5,000 to 8,000 ft) above mean sea level . There are 65–75 groves of giant sequoias in the Sierra Nevada, depending upon

408-470: The felling of the tree, an act that helped establish the public's belief in the existence of the giant sequoias. The General Noble Tree was displayed at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where it was met with skepticism, earning the nickname "California Hoax" by those who doubted the authenticity of its massive size. After the exposition, the tree was transported to Washington D.C., where it

432-450: The neighboring trees are also quite large, it can be difficult to appreciate the size of an individual giant sequoia. The largest giant sequoias are as tall as a 26-story building, and the width of their bases can exceed that of a city street. They grow at such a rate as to produce roughly 1.1 cubic meters (40 cu ft) of wood each year, approximately equal to the volume of a 50-foot-tall tree one foot in diameter. This makes them among

456-553: The stump is straightforward. From Grant Grove Village, drive three miles north on State Highway 180 , known as the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway. Then, turn onto Forest Road 13S03 and continue for another 2.8 miles to arrive at the Chicago Stump trailhead. The Chicago Stump itself is easily accessible through a flat, half-mile long trail called the Chicago Stump Trail. During the 2015 Rough Fire in

480-547: The trees coupled with their shallow root systems contributes to this weakening. Other causative factors include wind, water-softened soils, undercutting by streams, and heavy snow loads in the crowns. The Washington tree , located in the Giant Forest Grove in Sequoia National Park provides a good example of the aforementioned phenomenon. This tree was the second-largest tree in the world (only

504-467: The volume of a standing tree is the practical equivalent of calculating the volume of an irregular cone , and is subject to error for various reasons. This is partly due to technical difficulties in measurement, and variations in the shape of trees and their trunks. Measurements of trunk circumference are taken at only a few predetermined heights up the trunk, and assume that the trunk is circular in cross-section , and that taper between measurement points

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528-414: Was once thought to be the largest tree in the world, but it is now known to be the sixth largest , with five other giant sequoias surpassing it in size: the General Sherman , General Grant , President , Lincoln , and Stagg trees. Despite this, Boole is still the largest in terms of circumference, with a base measuring 113 ft (34 m). Located among shorter Scouler willows that have grown in

552-479: Was situated just outside the borders of Sequoia National Park . Despite Noble's recommendation for the establishment of the national park, which resulted in the protection of many sequoias, his namesake tree fell outside federal protection, which led to its cutting. The process of cutting and moving the General Noble Tree was arduous and costly. The tree had to be hollowed out and segmented, which were then transported by teams of 16 mules pulling specialized wagons over

576-602: Was transformed into a house-like structure and placed in front of the Main Building of the Department of Agriculture. It served as a popular tourist attraction for over 40 years until it eventually decayed. Today, the Chicago Stump , the remnants of the former General Noble Tree, stands as a 20-foot-high symbol in the Converse Basin Grove, testifying to the extensive logging of the late 19th century. Reaching

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