Lincoln (tree)

The Lincoln Tree is the name of a huge giant sequoia located in Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park. It is currently considered by many to be the fourth largest tree in the world. Wendell Flint, in his book "To Find The Biggest Tree", Sequoia Natural History Association (2002) stated that the Lincoln Tree has a volume of 44,471 cubic feet (1,259.3 m³). However, White and Pusateri, in "Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks", Stanford University Press (1949) indicated that the volume of the Lincoln Tree based on measurements made in the 1930s is 51,000 cubic feet (1,400 m³), which would make the Lincoln Tree the second largest tree in the world, after the General Sherman Tree. Wendell Flint was somewhat critical of the earlier measurements and he stated that he thought that it was appropriate to exclude a portion of the irregular base of the tree from his volume calculations, which in addition to some extrapolation differences from the earlier measurements, explains the smaller volume of 44,471 cubic feet (1,259.3 m³) that he obtained compared to the earlier figure. Although he chose to exclude it, Flint stated that the excluded portion of the base could just as easily be included in the calculations, presumably leading to the alternative volume of 51,000 cubic feet (1,400 m³) The Lincoln Tree has a maximum base diameter of 36.4 feet. Nearby trees include the President Tree, the Washington Tree, the Adams Tree, and the Franklin Tree. All of these trees are of great size, although the Washington Tree lost the hollow upper half of its trunk in 2005 after a fire.