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870 Trees Crowned Nation’s Biggest
General Sherman giant sequoia again reigns as world’s largest living thing |
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Two American elms, a 192-foot-tall Jeffrey pine, and a Mississippi baldcypress with a girth of 55 feet are among the 870 champions recognized in the 2006-2007 National Register of Big Trees. This biennial listing of the largest known trees of 826 species is by the nonprofit AMERICAN FORESTS, the nation’s oldest conservation group.
Listings in the National Register of Big Trees, published continuously since 1940, range from California’s massive General Sherman giant sequoia, earth’s largest living thing, to Florida’s tiny corkwood, the smallest “big tree” on the list. American Forests (www.americanforests.org) crowned 119 new champs and co-champs on the latest list, which registered champions from 43 states and the District of Columbia.
Sequoia National Park’s General Sherman giant sequoia reigns as the largest of its species, the largest tree in the Register, and the largest living thing on earth. At 274 feet tall with an 85-foot circumference and a 107-foot crown spread, the tree has a point total of 1,321. It is among three trees—the other two are a Rocky Mountain juniper and a Western juniper—that remain from the original 1940 list.
American Forests relies on public participation to find and nominate champion trees; nominations are verified by state coordinators and the list updated every two years. Trees receive a point total based on their height, circumference and 1/4 of their crown spread. Trees within 5 points are declared co-champions.
Florida leads the list of states with 160 champs, including the smallest tree on the Register, the 25-point corkwood. It’s followed by California with 101; Arizona, 82; Texas, 78, and Virginia, 54. Seven states do not currently claim any titleholders: Arkansas, Delaware, Kansas, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, North Dakota, and Wyoming. The nation’s capital has one titleholder, the national champion jujube, which grows on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.
Among the notable new champs: a 758-point co-champion baldcypress growing on a cotton farm in Mississippi. With a girth of 55 feet, it would take 30 people standing shoulder to shoulder to encircle it. The second and third biggest new champions are conifers that stand more than 180 feet tall: the 521-point Jeffrey pine in California’s Stanislaus National Forest and a 486-point Engelmann spruce near Loman, Idaho. Fountain Creek, Virginia, boasts the new co-champ American elm, which joins the current titleholder in Meeman-Shelby State Park, Tennessee.
The champion for each of the 826 species can be found at American Forests’ website (www.americanforests.org), along with its height, circumference, crown spread, location, and nominator. Many include photos. You can also download interesting trivia about the champs, a description of how to measure a tree, and a nomination form to nominate new champs. Information about species currently without a champ also is available.
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