Trees are some of the most majestic and awe-inspiring living things on the planet. And many of them are really, really big.
But which one is the tallest?
It turns out that the tallest trees on Earth are the coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) that loom over the mist-shrouded coastline of Redwood National Park, in Northern California. And the king of these giants is a tree known as Hyperion, according to Guinness World Records. When it was last measured in 2019, it stood an eye-popping 380 feet, 9.7 inches (116.07 meters) tall from top to base, taller than a 35-story building.
Hyperion’s exact location is a closely held secret, but it is apparently rooted in a hillside in which most of the old-growth coastal redwoods have been logged. Somehow, Hyperion has escaped the chainsaw, and the tree is estimated to be between 600 and 800 years old.
Related: Do trees exist (scientifically speaking)?
The living skyscraper was first discovered in 2006, by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor, part of a team of researchers who, at the time, tramped through the California forests hunting for the tallest trees, SFGate reported. At that time, the tree was a tiny bit shorter, at 379 feet, 1.2 in (115.5 m). Around the same time, that group discovered the second and third-tallest trees: Helios, which was then 376.3 feet (114.7 m) tall, and Icarus, which stood 371.2 feet (113.1 m) tall.
“Even though they’re on steep slopes, they’re growing in the finest redwood habitat on the planet,” Atkins told SFGate in 2006. “They’re right below a ridge, so they’re protected from the wind. They’re near abundant water, and they have plenty of fog, which keeps the local microclimate mild and moist. And they have great sun exposure.”
more at livescience.com
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