The towering trunk of a giant sequoia tree, Sequoiadendron giganteum, at the Sequoia National Park in California. Giant sequoias are found on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California at an altitude of between 1400 and 2400 metres. Although the height of 80 metres makes it shorter than the Californian redwood, the greater girth of the giant sequoia, 25 metres in circumference, makes it the largest, most massive of all living species, as well as being the oldest, at up to 3200 years. Weighing up to 1.2 million kilograms, a sequoia is more likely to topple over before it succumbs to death from old age. Data: (H) 311 ft, age 3200 years, bark 31 inches thick, Branches up to 8 ft diameter, base up to 30