We all see trees every day in our lives. Trees can be very tall! Read the November 14th Fact of the Day to learn more about the tallest tree in the world! Trees can also be very thick. This means that the layers of bark in those trees are much wider than in regular trees. But this tree, known as General Sherman, is not an ordinary tree. General Sherman’s bark is 36 feet thick! That is 2 school buses parked back to back!
General Sherman is a Giant Sequoia or a Sequoiadendron Giganteum and is located at Sequoia Nation Park in California. The name, Giant Sequoia kind of gives it away, but these trees are giant and thick! But, how did General Sherman’s bark get so thick? It is all because of the species of tree and how much time it takes to grow. Giant Sequoia trees have very thick bark in common. All Giant Sequoias have thick bark. General Sherman has been growing for more than 300 years! That means that this tree had enough time for it’s cambium, the inner layer of a tree, to get larger and larger. The outer bark does not really change, but the inner bark is the layer that is changing. That is why the General Sherman tree is so thick!
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