They measured the DBH at 8.7 feet and the height at 236 feet – neither of which were record-breaking figures – but as Taylor used his relascope to take more measurements and calculate the tree’s total volume of wood, his appreciation for the enormous mass of the tree grew and grew. The trunk had very little taper.
At this size, the Mossy Creek Giant handily became not just the largest known sugar pine, but the largest known pine in the world. The previous record-holder was a ponderosa pine with a volume of 5,450 cubic feet. Two other sugar pines over 5,400 cubic feet are right at the top of the list for the largest pines on Earth, too.