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This is the largest of the big trees and indisputably the largest living organism: The General Sherman Tree, in Sequoia National Park. Here are its statistics.

Estimated age: 2500-3000 years

Estimated weight of trunk: 1256 metric tons (1385 tons)

Height: 83.8 m (274.9 feet)

Circumference: 31.3 m (102.6 feet)

Maximum diameter: 11.1 m (36.5 feet)

Trunk volume: 1,487 m3 (52,500 feet 3)

From the bare statistics it is difficult to appreciate the real size of this huge tree. It is as high as a 16-story office building, and as wide as a city street. There is enough wood in it to build 40 2-bedroom homes. It would take 30 railroad cars just to move the trunk. Its largest branch, growing from the trunk 130 feet from the ground (2.1 m in diameter and 39.6 m long) is larger than most mature eastern forest trees.

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