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The Bennett Juniper (Juniperus grandis) is the largest known juniper tree in the United States at 78 feet (24 m), with an average crown spread of 56 feet (17 m). The diameter at breast height (4.5 feet (1.4 m) above ground) is 12.7 feet (3.9 m).
It is located in Sardine Meadow, an open area at 8,400 feet on an inholding in the Stanislaus National Forest. The tree is owned by the Mother Lode Land Trust, a regional land trust organization.
The age of the Bennett has been an enigma and the subject of several attempts to determine the age. The tree was cored in the 1930s by Glock and he estimated the age as about 3,000 years old. The tree was cored again in 1989 by Peter Brown from the University of Arizona Tree Ring Lab at the request of the former owners of the Bennett, Save the Redwoods League. His estimate based on a short sample was the age was also almost 3,000 years. During this coring it was discovered that rotten wood was reached about 2 feet (0.61 m) into the tree and that the tree was also partially hollow. As a result there will never be a definitive result from a complete core sample.
The naturalist Clarence K. Bennett for whom the tree is named believed the tree to be over 6,000 years old. His conclusion was based upon extrapolations of measurements taken either from core samples or cross-sections of nearby trees.[7] An example is a cross-section from a downed juniper about 200 feet (61 m) away which was 16 inches (41 cm) in diameter and 800 years old. About 10 miles (16 km) away is the Scofield Juniper stump which is about 6 feet (1.8 m) in diameter and 2700 years old by ring count. A major issue with the extrapolation method is that the Bennett has some access to water in a drainage which is unusual in this area for junipers. (USDA Forest Service photo by Benjamin Cossel)
| Date Taken: | 08.02.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 09.24.2025 06:50 |
| Photo ID: | 9334654 |
| VIRIN: | 220801-O-OW629-1004 |
| Resolution: | 3024x4032 |
| Size: | 10.25 MB |
| Location: | SARDINE MEADOW, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 0 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Tallest, perhaps oldest - Bennett Juniper [Image 6 of 6], by Benjamin Cossel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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