State champion trees: the largest trees on the state registers, by state and species

A state champion is the largest known tree of its species in a state, scored by points on the state’s register. Among the trees and shrubs we grow and the common natives, the registers of forty-seven states name 4,285 champions. The largest is a bald cypress in Louisiana, at 739 points. The first table links each register with its list’s date and how to nominate a tree, and the second gives each species’ largest state champion, A to Z.

The registers, state by state

The table lists the 51 state programs, the District of Columbia’s among them. A register’s name opens its page, or the nearest official page or file where it has none, and the last column counts the champions it lists of the species in the tables.

The largest state champion of each species, A to Z

Each row is the champion with the most points of its species across the states, for all 268 species in the tables. The files hold all 4,285 champion rows, each naming its state, species and holder number.

Jump to a letter: A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y

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How to read the table

The tables cover the trees and shrubs we grow, with a few common natives we do not grow where a page names them. That is a nursery’s catalog and not a sample of any forest, so the tables say nothing about how common a species is or how forests are composed.

Blue Whale Trees read the registers in October and November 2026, from each one’s page, file or an archived copy, and matched their trees to the species in the tables by botanical name. A register changes as trees are found, measured again or lost, so a list may have changed since.

Each register dates its list its own way, so the dates in the first table differ by state, from October 2016 to October 2026. Some lists are dated files, some are live databases, and a few carry no date at all. Four programs have no list in the files, and the last column says why.

A register scores a tree by the formula the state programs use: inches around the trunk at 4.5 feet, plus feet of height, plus a quarter of the average crown spread in feet. Where a register names two or more trees of a species as co-champions, each tree the files hold has a row, numbered by its points. Twenty-two rows marked co-champion stand alone, where the register lists no partner or the files keep only one of the pair.

Some registers print a total that their own figures do not sum to, such as an older total kept beside newer figures or the whole crown spread added in place of a quarter. The files keep each such total as printed and mark its row in the sum_differs column where the two part by more than 3 points, 71 rows in all. Where a register prints no total, the points are the formula’s sum, marked in the points_computed column.

In the second table a tie on points between two states goes to the larger trunk. The national champions, on the National Champion Tree Program’s register, are not in the tables. The big-tree measurer scores a tree the same way and sets it against both.

The table as a file

The files and the citation below name this table State champion trees: the largest trees on the state registers, by state and species. Download it as CSV or JSON: 4,285 rows, one for one title holder on a state’s register, with a row for each co-champion the files hold, with the columns below. It is one of the reference tables on the open data page. The figures are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license: use them with a credit to bluewhaletrees.com and a link to this page. Updated 2026-11-06.

What each column means

• state: the two-letter code of the state whose register lists the tree
• slug: the species’ address word: its page is https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/ followed by the slug and a slash, or https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/ and the slug for a common native we do not grow
• holder: the title holder’s number within its state and species: 1 for the tree with the most points, then 2 and up for its co-champions in the order of their points
• name: the common name the plant’s or species’ page uses
• botanical: the botanical name the page uses
• in_catalog: true for a tree or shrub we grow, false for a common native we do not grow
• register_name: the register’s own name for the species, as it spells it, where that differs from the botanical name
• status: champion, or co-champion where the register names two or more trees of the species as sharing the title
• points: the tree’s points, inches around the trunk plus feet of height plus a quarter of the average crown spread in feet: the register’s total, or its figures’ sum where it prints none
• circumference_in: the trunk’s circumference in inches, as the register gives it, converted where it prints feet
• height_ft: the height in feet, as the register gives it
• spread_ft: the average crown spread in feet: the mean of the widest spread and the spread at right angles to it
• measured_year: the year the tree was measured, where the register gives one
• points_computed: true where the register prints the figures but no total, so the points are the formula’s sum of its figures
• sum_differs: true where the register’s printed total differs by more than 3 points from the formula’s sum of its own figures; the total is kept as printed
• source: the address of the register’s page, file or record the row was read from

How the table is made

Each row gives a state register’s own figures, read from its page, its file or an archived copy in October and November 2026. The rows are matched by botanical name to the trees and shrubs we grow and the common natives. A total that the register’s own figures do not sum to is kept as printed and marked, and where a register prints no total the points are the formula’s sum. The national register is not in the table, and the files are written from the records and checked at every release.

Cite this page

Copy a link or a reference. A press on a box copies it.

<a href="https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/state-champion-trees/">State champion trees: the largest trees on the state registers, by state and species</a>, Blue Whale Trees, updated November 6, 2026.

Blue Whale Trees. (2026, November 6). State champion trees: the largest trees on the state registers, by state and species. https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/state-champion-trees/

Common questions

How are champion tree points calculated?

Add the trunk’s circumference in inches at 4.5 feet, the height in feet and a quarter of the average crown spread in feet. A tree 200 inches around and 90 feet tall, with an average crown spread of 80 feet, scores 310 points.

How do I nominate a tree for my state’s champion list?

Through the state’s own program, whose nomination form or page the first table links where it has one online. Measure the tree as the program asks. For four of the 51 programs, no way to nominate was found online.

Which state has the most champion trees?

Among the species in the tables, North Carolina’s register lists the most champions, 253, then Virginia with 250 and Georgia with 226. A register’s full list often runs longer, since it takes species the tables leave out.

What is the biggest state champion tree?

By points, a bald cypress in Louisiana: 739 points, 626 inches around, 91 feet tall and an average crown spread of 87 feet. Bald cypress holds the six highest scores in the files, in five states.

What is the difference between a state champion and a national champion?

A state champion is the largest known tree of its species in one state, on that state’s register. A national champion is the largest in the country, on the National Champion Tree Program’s register, which the tables leave out.