Nelder is a
giant sequoia
''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (giant sequoia; also known as giant redwood, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, California big tree, Wellingtonia or simply big treea nickname also used by John Muir) is the sole living species in the genus ''Sequoiade ...
located within the
Nelder Grove
Nelder Grove, formerly known as Fresno Grove when it was within a much larger 19th-century Fresno County, is a Giant sequoia grove located in the western Sierra Nevada within the Sierra National Forest, in Madera County, California.
The grove is ...
of
Sequoia National Forest
Sequoia National Forest is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The U.S. National Forest is named for the majestic Giant Sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees which populate 38 distinct groves within the boundar ...
in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. It is the largest tree in Nelder Grove, the
23rd largest giant sequoia in the world, and could be considered the 22nd largest depending on how badly
Ishi Giant
Ishi Giant is a giant sequoia in California, United States. It is located in Kennedy Grove, which is part of a group of eight closely spaced giant sequoia groves situated in Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada in eastern central Californ ...
atrophied during the
Rough Fire
The Rough Fire was a wildfire of the 2015 California season. It burned of land, a season record, and was extinguished by 3,742 firefighters.
Progression
The fire, caused by a lightning strike on July 31, approximately North of Hume Lake, bu ...
in 2015.
[
]
Description
Nelder is located northwest of a hairpin turn
A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or hairpin corner) is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal hai ...
along "Graveyard of the Giants Trail" at the end of an unofficial branching trail. The base of the tree, much like the surrounding trees, was charred during the 2017 Railroad Fire
The Railroad Fire was a wildfire that burned in between the communities of Sugar Pine and Fish Camp in the Sierra National Forest in California, United States. The fire was reported on August 29, 2017 and burned before it was fully contained on ...
.
History
On July 3, 1859, naturalist Galen Clark
Galen Clark (March 28, 1814 – March 24, 1910) was a Canadian-born American conservationist and writer. He is known as the first European American to discover the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia trees, and is notable for his role in gaining leg ...
, Judge John W. Fitzhugh, and journalist L.A. Holmes discovered the tree while on a hunting expedition in the area. In 1875, prospector-turned-hermit John A. Nelder built a cabin near the tree, which he considered to be the largest in the world. Nelder met naturalist John Muir
John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...
later that same year, but when Muir measured the tree, he determined it to be smaller than the Grizzly Giant
The Grizzly Giant is a Sequoiadendron giganteum, giant sequoia in Yosemite National Park's Mariposa Grove. It has been measured many times; in 1990 Wendell Flint calculated its volume at , making it the List of largest giant sequoias, 26th-largest ...
tree of Mariposa Grove
Mariposa Grove is a sequoia grove located near Wawona, California, United States, in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park. It is the largest grove of giant sequoias in the park, with several hundred mature examples of the tree. Two of i ...
. Nelder's tree, though narrower, was later found to be taller and more voluminous than the Grizzly Giant, making it the second largest giant sequoia in the region after the Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
tree of Mariposa Grove
Mariposa Grove is a sequoia grove located near Wawona, California, United States, in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park. It is the largest grove of giant sequoias in the park, with several hundred mature examples of the tree. Two of i ...
.
Dimensions
See also
*List of largest giant sequoias
The giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') is the world's most massive tree, and arguably the largest living organism on Earth. It is neither the tallest extant species of tree (that distinction belongs to the coast redwood), nor is it the ...
*List of individual trees
The following is a list of notable trees. Trees listed here are regarded as important or specific by their historical, national, locational, natural or mythological context. The list includes actual trees located throughout the world, as well as ...
References
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Individual giant sequoia trees
Sequoia National Forest