In California Sierra Nevada, there is a 3, 200 year old sequoia tree that rises at 247 feet and is nicknamed the President. There are two others with wide trunks but they do not have a large crown like the president’s. When standing forward on the top branches of the tree, one of the scientists looks taller than other climbers.

The sequoia tree measures 45,000 cubic feet, stands at 247feet tall and is estimated to be 3,200 years old. It has a 27 feet wide trunk and its branches (which are mighty) hold 2 billion needles. This is the most any tree has held in the planet. The tree also adds a cubic meter of wood every year, which categorizes him among the world’s fastest growing trees.

The giant Sequoias can only be found on the western slopes of Sierra Nevada, California. The president and other smaller trees make up this home and are above sea level at 5000-8000 ft.

The tree had for many years never been captured in its entirety.  Photographers from the National Geographic worked with a team of scientist to do this. They used a set of levers and pulleys to scale the tree.

They measured different heights of the trunk, limbs, burls and branches. They counted cones and armed with this information, used mathematical models informed by information from other sequoias. The president, as they found out, contains 54,000 cubic feet of bark and wood. The tree according to this team is the largest (if you take into account its width) in the world. 32 days later the team had stitched up 126 separate photos together, to produce a breathtaking portrait of this Sequoia tree.

Chael Nichols, Ngm staff. Mosaic Composed Of 126 ImagesComposting: Ken Geiger, NGM staffClimbing Team: Jim Campbell Spickler, Giacomo Renzullo, Cameron Williams, Nolan BowmanTechnical team: Nathan Williamson; Marty Reed, Humboldt State University (HSU)

Order Large Format Prints at: NationalGeographicCart.com

The president amazed the team. It’s a historical tree that has seen generations come and go while it still stands tall and growing. It’s been through storms, heavy rains, heavy snows, enduring cold, lightning strikes -but it’s still growing faster than ever.
[Source: www.themindunleashed.org]