The world's largest tree, a giant sequoia growing in California's Sequoia National Park. The General Sherman tree measures 275 feet tall and 30 feet across at the base. Early estimates placed the tree's age at 5,000 to 6,000 years, and later at 2,500 to 3,500 years, as techniques for estimating sequoia ages have become more accurate. The tree is now thought to be even younger, perhaps only 2,100 to 2,200 years old."The Sherman tree's extreme bulk, more than ten times larger than a blue whale, has long led people to believe that its age was also extreme. The relative youth of the world's largest tree comes as something of a surprise."

Extremely large trees are not necessarily the oldest.Tree rings in cut sequoia stumps show that sequoias much smaller than the Sherman tree have reached ages of more than 3,200 years. "The Sherman tree isn't so large because it's exceptionally old, but because it's growing so fast," said Stephenson. "Each year it adds enough wood to make a tree one foot in diameter and more than 100 feet tall."








Of the many scenic wonders found within the Inyo National Forest, one of the most amazing is the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, located between 10,000 and 11,000 ft. in the White Mountains, east of the Sierra Nevada. These trees are the oldest known living trees on earth. Here in the White Mountains, the ancient trees have survived more than 40 centuries, exceeding the age of the oldest Giant Sequoia by 1,500 years. For trees that old, one would expect giants, but Bristlecone pines look more like weathered dwarfs than like old giants. They add no more than an inch per century to their girth. The harsh climate above 10,000 ft elevation and very poor soil conditions don’t let things grow too big. As a matter of fact, Bristlecone pines are the only trees to have adapted to these conditions. That gives them a competitive edge allowing for a long and undisturbed life.

The Ancient Forest. Each Bristlecone pine, from young seedling to ancient relic, has an individual character. And in the Ancient Forest, where trees had more that four and a half millennia to develop their character, each tree is a true individual. Every single tree in the Ancient Forest is at least 4,000 years old, many reach 4,500 years and the oldest one – Methuselah – has a confirmed age of 4,767 years which secured its place in the Guinness Book of World Records.