The tallest tree. The Largest Trees in the World National Geographic Society
There are a very large number of tall trees on Earth. In different parts of the world there are trees that are called the tallest on the planet. In some cases, the sizes are exaggerated, but there are also trees that amaze the imagination with their dimensions. With the advent of new height measurement tools, more reliable information is becoming available about the true size of the world's largest trees.
Thanks to modern technology, people have been able to measure the true height of these colossuses of the plant world. Laser-based rangefinders, falling tape meters, etc. were used for measurement. Researchers have managed to formulate the ten tallest trees in the world, which are so huge that taking a full-length photo of them can only be done by climbing to a certain height. Many of these giants continue to grow.
Tallest tree in the world
The location of many trees remains a secret, so finding photos of them is very difficult. Despite the fact that Hyperion is the tallest tree in the world, its mass is far from the most impressive. According to this indicator, the colossal sequoia General Sherman is beyond competition. Despite the relatively small height (83.8 m), the General has a record weight of 1.9 thousand tons with a trunk volume of a phenomenal 1.5 thousand square meters. Scientists are confident that the General Sherman sequoia is at least 2.7 thousand years old.
Mendocino ranks tenth
Mendocino is one of the largest trees in America
A huge sequoia with a height of 112.2 m is located in the Montgomery Woods Nature Reserve in the United States. From 1996 to 2000 Mendocino was considered the tallest tree on the planet. There are quite a few redwood trees growing not far from the giant, but compared to Mendocino they look like a kindergarten teacher surrounded by children.
Paradox - ninth on the list
Paradox, height 112.5 meters
A tree 112.5 m high, located in a forest area owned by billionaire J. Rockefeller near the town of Humboldt (USA). The diameter of the Paradox trunk is 3.9 m, which is slightly less than that of Mendocino (4.19 m). Sequoia was discovered by accident; researchers who first saw the tree were amazed by its beauty. Paradox rises majestically above the forest, under its thick crown a company of soldiers can hide in the shadows.
Rockefeller - ranks eighth in the ranking
Rockefeller takes 8th position in the ranking
Another giant tree associated with a famous billionaire. Rockefeller is a 112.6 m tall sequoia located relatively close to Paradox in the Humboldt Redwood National Forest. The name in honor of the billionaire is symbolic - the tree is very old, just like the entrepreneur, respected in the United States.
Sequoia is distinguished by its height, slenderness and density of crown. Those who were lucky enough to see Rockefeller remembered him for the rest of their lives. By the way, seeing a tree is not so easy - the coordinates of all the colossi of the plant world are classified: this is one of the most effective ways to protect them from vandals. If a person walks through the park, he simply will not understand that in front of him is a giant. In terms of trunk thickness, the famous sequoia is not much different from its surrounding counterparts.
Lauralin - is in the seventh position of the top
Southern giant Lauralin
Sequoia with a romantic name and an impressive height of 112.62 m. This giant, like the previous one, “lives” in the American Humboldt National Park. The gigantic tree was found by biologists P. Zinke and E. Stragenburger. The researchers were amazed by the incredible beauty of the tree, which in fact represents a complete ecological system. From the roots to the crown, Lauralin is home to a wide variety of living creatures. Hares live at its foot, squirrels live in hollows on the middle floors, and birds build nests on the branches. In addition, the Lauralina ecosystem includes many species of lichens and insects.
This giant sequoia is not hidden from the public: those visiting Humboldt Park are sure to come to see the amazing tree.
Orion - a giant sequoia in sixth place
Orion - tree height is 112.63 meters
In the very center of the Redwood National Forest (California, USA) grows a gigantic sequoia called Orion. The height of this amazing creation of Mother Nature is 112.63 m. Orion was carefully hidden from prying eyes; it was very difficult to find him. The fact is that the giant is located next to two other huge sequoias: each of these trees is 2 times lower than Orion, but they are in no way inferior to it in thickness. You can only see the colossal difference between the sequoias from a considerable height. Orion is one of the oldest trees on earth, its age is 1.5 thousand years.
National Geographic Society - in fifth place
NGO. The height of the tree is 112.71 m.
A giant sequoia named after a United States NGO. The giant was discovered in the Redwood Creek valley in 1994. For a year, the tree was considered the tallest in the world. The exact coordinates of the gigantic plant are classified. The trunk diameter is 0.20 m larger than that of Mendocino.
Stratospheric giant - fourth on the list
The height of this giant was 113.11 m.
An impressive tree that looks like a huge skyscraper. The scientists who discovered this sequoia were amazed by its height: it seemed to the researchers that the tree was touching the clouds with its branches. Hence the name of the plant colossus.
The stratospheric giant was found in 2000 in Humboldt National Park, a nature reserve famous for its record-breaking redwood trees.
At the time of discovery, the tree had a height of 112.34 m, but its growth continued. In 2010, scientists re-measured the height of the sequoia. It turned out that the Stratospheric Giant had increased in height: its height was 113.11 m. The tree is surrounded by large fellows and it is only possible to understand how huge it is from above. The coordinates of the Stratospheric Giant are being hidden: this is how scientists are trying to protect the sequoia from vandalism.
Icarus took third position in the ranking
Icarus reaches 113.4 meters
Finally, we got to the top three. The famous sequoia Icarus has risen to the third place in the ranking. The tree was found by researchers M. Taylor and K. Atkins, who wandered around the California Redwood Park for several days.
Biologists noticed that the top of the sequoia was dry, as if it had been burnt out in the sun. Atkins recalled the Greek myth of Icarus, a young man who decided to fly to the sun but was burned along the way. This is how the tree got its name.
However, almost any tree in Redwood Park can be called Icarus. Due to solar activity, many of the redwood trees in the reserve have dead tops. Actually, “Redwood” is translated from English as “Red Forest”.
Finding Icarus on your own is problematic, and its coordinates are carefully classified.
Helios is second in the ranking list
Helios reaches 114.58 m.
In the summer of 2006, K. Atkins and M. Taylor undertook another research expedition in the Red Forest. Surprisingly, researchers were able to discover another giant sequoia. It was a 114.58 m tall tree. Shocked, Taylor and Atkins named the sequoia Helios in honor of the ancient Greek god of the Sun. This tree is only slightly inferior to the leader of our rating.
Hyperion is the tallest tree in the world and is in the top number one
Hyperion holds the record for all the tallest trees on the planet
So, we got to the tallest tree in the world. This is a unique Hyperion sequoia, growing in the same Redwood Park. Surprisingly, the restless K. Atkins and M. Taylor discovered Hyperion. After measuring the tree, it became clear that this incredible giant is a world record holder. Hyperion's parameters are amazing:
- height – 115.61 m;
- trunk diameter – 5 m.
Scientists believe that the age of the colossus is 800 years.
Chris and Michael are confident that the Hyperion sequoia could have reached even greater heights, but the tree was attacked by woodpeckers. A huge number of birds settled in the branches of the giant plant, damaging the trunk. Despite the titanic power of the tree, the woodpeckers turned out to be stronger - the growth of the sequoia slowed down.
Video: the tallest sequoia tree from the cypress family
Sensation: despite the gigantic size of the tree, its leaves reach only 2 cm in length, and the root in the ground reaches only half a meter!
Sequoia is the tallest tree species in the world
Readers have already realized that the tallest tree in the world is the sequoia. This species is also called “mahogany”. Douglas firs (another name is “pretty fir”), as well as Australian eucalyptus trees, could compete with these colossi. Unfortunately, the tallest representatives of these two species were destroyed.
Sequoia Hyperion could also go under the saw, but in the 70s. In the 20th century, American authorities drew attention to the outrages of loggers in Redwood National Park and cutting down redwood trees in this area was strictly prohibited. Severe sanctions began to be applied to black lumberjacks, fined and even sent to prison.
The measures worked: in our time, many gigantic sequoias grow in the “Red Forest”. According to scientists' latest estimates, there are 100 trees in the Redwoods that are more than 100 meters tall. All of these are sequoias; representatives of other species, unfortunately, do not overcome the hundred-meter mark.
Until the summer of 2006, the status of the tallest tree in the world was held by the “Stratospheric Giant” sequoia in Humboldt Park. This colossus is twice the size of the Statue of Liberty.
It seemed that the tree simply could not be taller, but biologists K. Atkins and M. Taylor proved that this is far from true. Wandering through California's Redwood Park, they discovered a group of giant trees, among which was an incredible colossus that looked like a skyscraper. After measurements with laser equipment, it turned out that the found tree was almost a meter taller than the “Stratospheric Giant”. Moreover, the nearby “comrades” of the giant also exceeded the size of the previous record holder of the plant world.
The tallest tree in the world is called Hyperion. This colossus is almost 30 meters higher than London's Big Ben.
The measurement of Hyperion was carried out by ecologist Steve Sillett, seconded to Redwood Park by National University. Humboldt. Sillett, using climbing equipment, climbed to the top of the sequoia and lowered the tape from there. The NG television company recorded what was happening on film: the film can be viewed on the Internet. After measuring the tape, it turned out that the height of the tree is 115 meters.
Hyperion can be called a lucky tree. In the seventies of the last century, Redwood was an ordinary forest in which lumberjacks operated with might and main. Gigantic pines fell one after another, they were sawed into fragments and taken away on large trucks. Hyperion was scheduled to be cut down, but about 2 weeks before the colossus was to be defeated, the US government declared Redwood a national park.
The sawmills knew full well that Redwood was being recognized as a park, so they worked tirelessly with their chainsaws. Sequoia wood is one of the most valuable in the wood processing industry; companies received hundreds of thousands of dollars for one giant cut down.
Trees, many of which were hundreds of years old, were destroyed on an industrial scale. People could well have destroyed one of the undoubted treasures of humanity - the Redwood redwood forest.
Unfortunately, hundreds and even thousands of trees have not been as lucky as Hyperion. Currently, redwood forests account for only 4% of all green areas in the United States.
Hyperion is quite young for a plant of its kind: this tree has not yet finished growing. According to Sillett, the giant is no more than 800 years old (for comparison, the Orion sequoia has been on our planet for 1.5 thousand years).
Compared to human life, Hyperion is now 20 years old, essentially a young tree. The caretakers of Redwood Park have strictly kept the giant's coordinates secret. American scientists hope that the young tree will continue its growth, setting new incredible records.
In addition, tourist trips to Hyperion will certainly lead to disruption of the Redwood forest ecosystem. The tree itself will also suffer: surely among tourists there will be those who like to put a “memorable” inscription on the tree or chop off a piece of bark.
According to Sillett, redwoods are a kind of “movie stars”, but they cannot escape from the paparazzi like their human counterparts. History has already shown that the popularity of giant sequoias leads to sad consequences.
History of measurements of giant trees
It is impossible to say whether Hyperion is the tallest tree of the last 100-200 years. People began to become interested in this topic relatively recently and no data has been preserved. In addition, 96% of redwood trees are destroyed by logging companies.
In 1872, William Ferguson, an employee of the Australian State Forestry Inspectorate, informed the authorities about the discovery of a fallen Eucalyptus regnans (the regal eucalyptus, a close relative of the familiar mountain ash). The tree had colossal dimensions. The visiting scientists took measurements and reported that the length of the eucalyptus was 132 meters.
After this, several more eucalyptus trees up to 140 meters high were found in Australia. Unfortunately, there is no way to confirm this data: the gigantic trees were cut down by loggers.
Eucalyptus wood turned out to be almost the only building material for Australian settlers.
There are almost no eucalyptus trees left in Australia these days, but they are found in Tasmania. For example, the famous Centurion eucalyptus is 100 meters high. The uniqueness of Centurion is that it is the tallest deciduous tree on our planet. The eucalyptus was found in the fall of 2008 by the laser of an aircraft searching for dominant heights in the area.
Tree height limit
In 2001, the English scientist D. Amos published an article in one of the authoritative scientific publications on the maximum growth of trees. The researcher conducted a series of experiments which, according to him, convincingly prove that the maximum height of a tree is 130 meters. After this mark, the plant will not be able to deliver the nutritional composition obtained from the soil to the crown, and its growth will stop.
Amos' theory has not yet found practical confirmation: there is not a single tree in the world 130 meters high.
Today, the tallest tree in the world is the Hyperion sequoia.
The height of this tree is 115.6 m. The trunk diameter is 4.84 m. It grows in the USA, California. Approximate age 700 – 800 years. This tree was discovered in 2006 by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor. You will not find real photographs of this tree, since its location is kept secret.
In the modern world, only two types of trees are considered the tallest. These are eucalyptus trees, which grow on mainland Australia, and North American redwood trees.
Tallest tree in the world video:
The tallest tree among eucalyptus trees.
Eucalyptus is the tallest evergreen flowering plant on the planet, belonging to the Myrtle family, genus Eucalyptus. They grow mainly in Australia and Tasmania. Australian eucalyptus trees are the tallest trees in the world. Their height can reach 100-150 m.
There was a time when the tallest tree belonged to the eucalyptus genus. There is a known specimen that grew to 189 m. Today, the tallest eucalyptus is “Centurion”, growing on the island of Tasmania and having a height of 101 m and a trunk diameter of 4 m. It was discovered in 2008.
"Centurion"
"El Grande"
A huge eucalyptus called "El Grande" was discovered in 2002 on the island of Tasmania. Unfortunately, in 2003 he died due to a fire.
The tallest tree in the world is the sequoia.
Sequoia is one of the tallest trees on Earth. This monotypic genus, which includes only one species of woody plants, belongs to the cypress family. The distribution area of this plant is the Pacific coast of North America.
Until 2000, the tallest tree was considered to be a sequoia belonging to the species Sequoia sempervirens.
This Mendocino tree is 112.2 m high and 4.19 m in diameter. It is located in the USA, California.
The oldest clone tree on the planet is Tikko.
Old Tikko is a spruce tree that is 9550 years old. More precisely, this is the age of its root system. This tree is located on Mount Fulufjellet in Sweden. It is the oldest free-standing living tree - clone - in the world. It was discovered by Leif Kullman, a professor of physical geography, who nicknamed this tree in honor of his dog. The visible part of the tree is young, but it is part of the old root system. Over thousands of years, a tree can clone itself many times. The old trunk dies and a new one grows.
The oldest tree
Of the single trees, the oldest is Methuselah.
This bristlecone pine was discovered by botanist Edmund Shulman in 1953. The approximate age of the tree is 4846 years. It was planted in 2831 BC. Today, this tree is considered alive and grows in the Inyo National Forest in California (USA) at an altitude of 3000 meters above sea level.
The thickest tree is Tule.
This tree grows in Mexico, in the city of Santa Maria del Tule. The height of the tree is 40 m, trunk diameter is 14 m, circumference is 40, weight is 636 tons. If 30 people join hands, they can embrace this tree. On the trunk of this tree you can see figures of animals: a lion, a crocodile, an elephant. This tree may have inspired the Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom in Florida.
Mysterious "tree of life".
In Florida, at Animal Kingdom Park, there is this tree of life. The height of this tree is 44 meters. 12 craftsmen worked to create a tree with many animals depicted on it. The tree itself is artificial. There is a cinema inside it.
The loneliest tree is Tenere.
In the Tenere desert, which is part of the Sahara, located in the northeast of Niger, until 1973, a single acacia tree grew, which was 300 years old. Not a single plant grew within 200 km of it. For caravanners, the crown of a tree served as a landmark in the desert. To extract water from the ground, the roots of the tree grew 36 meters down. Due to the fault of a drunk driver, this tree was broken. In its place now stands a metal monument resembling a tree.
The tree of Life"
In the kingdom of Bahrain - a small Arab state, in the desert near the city of Jebel - Dukhan, there grows the same lonely tree as Tenere once was, but a living 400-year-old tree - Shajarat-al-Hayat. The tree belongs to the species Prosopis cineraria, whose roots go 50 meters underground.
The oldest oak - chapel
Thanks to the botanist Henri Gadot de Querville, this oak has been considered a historical monument of France since 1932. There is a possibility that that tree is more than 800 years old. Its height is 15 meters, its circumference is 16m. Inside the oak tree there are two chapels, accessed by a spiral staircase. Every year up to 40 thousand people visit this chapel.
Trees. Fight for life.
Socotra Island, Yemen.
Canada. Port Renfrew. Small tree on a log.
City of Kalaloh. Washington.
Crimea. On the way to the Foros Church.
The tallest tree in Russia is fir - a coniferous tree belonging to the pine family.
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The flora of planet Earth is striking in its diversity. The “lungs” of the Earth - forests and groves - have attracted the attention of people for a long time. The huge number of species and forms of trees has made them objects of study.
There are many ratings of the largest trees, the oldest, the most cold-resistant... We present a rating of the tallest trees in the world. Historically, the most remarkable specimens grow on the American and Australian continents.
The tallest trees in Australia: legends and reality
Back in the 19th century, there were no measuring instruments that would allow us to determine the exact height of a tree - up to a centimeter. Therefore, people who encountered giant eucalyptus trees in Australian forests had to take their word for it. In 1872, an Australian resident reported finding a 150-meter tall eucalyptus tree in the forest. But, alas, there was no documentary evidence of this.The tallest tree in Australia, which was measured already in the middle of the 20th century, is a specimen of the regal eucalyptus, and its height is significantly less than 150 meters. It grows on Mount Baw Baw in Queensland and reaches a height of 99.4 meters. A second tree of comparable height of the same species is located in the valley of the River Styx, which flows in Tasmania. Its height is 98.1 meters, and its name is Centurion.
America's Tallest Trees: Sequoia
Sequoias claim the title of absolute leader - these coniferous giants grow mainly on the West Coast of the United States, off the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Sequoias received their generic name in honor of one of the legendary Indian leaders of the Cherokee tribe. 
Moreover, many trees recognized as unique for their large size also have personal names.
About 150 million years ago, forests entirely composed of these giants covered almost the entire American continent. Now their habitat is limited to thirty relatively small groves on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
The ten tallest trees in the world grow in one region of the world - California, USA. The exact location of some of them is kept secret, and it is difficult to find photographs of them on the Internet. This was done on purpose - so that curious tourists would not make pilgrimages to the sequoias and would allow them to grow peacefully.
Interestingly, at the end of the 19th century, when the redwood groves were given the status of national parks, rangers began to monitor forest fires and prevent their spread. It would seem that this is a good and right thing. However, several years later it turned out that during this time not a single young sequoia tree appeared in the groves.
The solution looked paradoxical, but turned out to be correct. It turned out that forest fires are necessary in the life cycle of the redwood tree. This is one of the few trees in the world that has managed to adapt to fire.
Under the influence of high temperature, the sequoia cone opens, the seed falls into the ground and has a chance to germinate. And at this time, a forest fire burns out fallen needles and foliage and allows the earth to “breathe.”
Top 10 Tallest Trees in the World: Redwoods
10. Now the tenth tallest tree in the world is the Mendocino tree, which grows in Montgomery Woods, California, USA. Height – 112.20 meters. The trunk volume is 4.19 meters. 
9. In ninth place is a sequoia called Paradox, which grows in Rockefeller Forest. Height – 112.56 meters, trunk volume – 3.90 meters.
7. A redwood tree named Lauralin grows in the same Humboldt County. Its height is estimated at 112.62 meters, diameter - 4.54 meters.
6. The sixth place in the world in height is occupied by a sequoia called Orion. It grows in Redwood National Park in San Mateo County. Height – 112.63 meters, trunk volume – 4.33 meters.
Five tallest trees in the world
5. The redwood tree, named after the National Geographic Society (NGS), is considered an asset to the Redwood Creek area. Height – 112.71 meters. The trunk volume is 4.39 meters. 
The editors of the site clarify: it is easy to notice that these trees differ little in height and are located quite closely together in the ranking. The unofficial title of the first among the giants passed from one specimen to another several times. For an entire year - from 1994 to 1995 - the NGS sequoia was considered the tallest in the world.
4. The giant of the Stratosphere - a sequoia with a height of 113.11 meters - was discovered in the summer of 2000. Then its size was slightly smaller, but the tree still continues to grow. From 2000 to 2010, the size of the Stratosphere Giant increased by seventy centimeters - from 112.34 meters.
3. The top three tallest trees in the world are closed by the sequoia “named” Icarus. Height – 113.14 meters, trunk volume – 3.78 meters. Icarus got its name from its sun-scorched, reddish dead top.
2. The second tallest tree in the world is called Helios and grows near one of the tributaries of the Redwood Creek. Its height reaches 114.58 meters. For literally two and a half months - from June to August 2006 - Helios was considered the highest in the world. However, soon an even more impressive tree was discovered on the other side of the river.
Tallest tree in the world: Hyperion
1. Now officially the tallest tree in the world is called Hyperion. This is a sequoia that grows on the opposite bank from its brother, Helios. Hyperion has held the championship in size since August 25, 2006, when it was discovered by two naturalists. Hyperion's height is 115.61 meters, girth is 4.84 meters. 
The total volume of this tree is 502 cubic meters. It is also known that its age by the standards of the species is quite small - 700-800 years. Sequoias live for four thousand years.
However, Hyperion will no longer grow upward. The top of Hyperion was damaged by pileated woodpeckers, who hollowed out several hollows at the very top of the trunk. The top of the trunk has lost its power, and now Hyperion only has to grow in width.
And the Helios sequoia, which now ranks second in the world ranking, according to ecologists, grows two inches a year, and in a few years Hyperion may give it the title of the tallest tree in the world.
There are only 30 groves left in the world in which sequoias grow. This is a rare species, and environmentalists are trying to maintain it - to grow it specifically in British Columbia (Canada) and carefully protect natural reserves with redwoods. We invite you to read about endangered animal species - the rarest populations consist of up to several dozen individuals.
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A tree is a perennial plant that consists of roots that feed it, a solid trunk wrapped in bark, and a crown (branches and leaves, varying in shape and properties). They are divided into two types: coniferous and deciduous. Man has learned to process both of them and obtain benefits from them for himself.
But there are trees that a person’s hand should never climb. These are the best of the best trees: the tallest, the largest, the heaviest and others.
Redwoods
Not just one tree, but a whole family can easily be classified as the tallest plants with a solid trunk. Four examples stand out in particular. They all belong to the same tree species - sequoias. These species are coniferous and mainly grow in North America along the ocean, as they need moisture in large quantities.
Structure
In its appearance, the species is similar to other coniferous trees: the branches grow horizontally, the needles (needle-shaped leaves) are evergreen, have cones, from which, when dry, seeds fall out and begin the life of new trees. The roots are not deep, but they are very powerful. After all, they have to hold trees upright and feed them, the mass of which reaches 1000 tons. The bark is very thick, compared to other breeds, the thickness reaches 30 centimeters. The inside of the wood is red, which is why it is used in the furniture industry. Although sequoia does not have other necessary qualities from mahogany (beautiful wood texture, pliability to processing).
The length of the trees listed above is more than 110 meters and differs only by a few meters. Work on measuring their growth was carried out by scientists who, using a laser, were able to determine the desired parameter only in 2006.
Tallest tree in the world
Until this moment, the book of records recorded the best representative called the giant of the stratosphere. Its length is 112 meters and 70 centimeters. And after laser measurements, it turned out that there are three more trees that are superior to the one described above. The tallest tree is a specimen with a length of more than 115 meters called Hyperion. The second place was taken by a tree with a length of 114 meters 69 centimeters called Helios. And the third was Icarus, he grew to 113 meters 14 centimeters. But to be given official status by the book of records, all trees must be measured with a special rope lowered from the top of the tree.
All these giants are located in the state of California. They are alive and continue to grow each year, adding an average of 25 centimeters. According to scientists, their opportunities for growth have not been exhausted. The critical length of trees is located at 130 meters above the ground. Then problems will begin with feeding the cells with water due to gravity. Although there are cases where trees were described whose dimensions reached 155 meters.
Information about such a tree came from the shores of the Australian continent back in the 19th century. It was a representative of marvelous trees - eucalyptus. But what happened to it later, and why the current representatives of this tree species do not reach such sizes, is now unknown. Which gives grounds for further thought and scientific research.
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People have lived near trees throughout history. A tree provides shade when it’s hot, shelter from the sun, firewood for a fire, wood for paper and much more. Therefore, trees have attracted people's attention for a very long time. And the tallest tree in the world accordingly attracts the most attention. This is what our post today will be about.
The flora of the Earth impresses with its diversity and splendor. However, a special place is usually given to trees that have grown on the planet since ancient times. A huge number of species, shapes, sizes and habitats. All this became the reason for studying trees with special care. Among them there are real record holders, particularly in height. The tallest tree in the world is just such a record holder. It's time to get to know him better
Most of the champion trees in height grow in America. First of all, these are redwoods, the location of which is usually kept secret. Among them there are young giants, as well as many centenarians.
Watch this wonderful video from the National Geographic channel to appreciate the power and height of these amazing trees:
The tallest trees in the world, sequoia conifers, are distributed mainly in California, the famous American state. There are several contenders for first place, but in 2006, the tallest tree in the world was recognized as the sequoia, called Hyperion, whose height exceeds 115 meters and diameter is about eleven meters. Hyperion is about eight hundred years old.
Before the discovery of Hyperion, the championship belonged to the Helios sequoia. Now this tree has moved to second position. The following places are occupied by the Icarus and Stratosphere Giant sequoias. It is possible that in the future ecologists and naturalists will discover taller trees. Then the title of the tallest tree in the world will pass to them.
What does the tallest tree in the world look like - sequoia
The crown of this amazing representative of the plant world has a conical shape. Most branches grow horizontally, sometimes with a slight downward slope. Sequoia bark is very massive, up to 30cm thick, but soft and fibrous to the touch. When touched, an unusual sensation is created that the hand is immersed in it. The bark removed from the tree is red-brown in color and darkens over time. As the tree ages, its appearance changes.
Until about a hundred years of age, it is a kind of dark green pyramid, tightly covered with branches from bottom to top. Over time, the entire lower part of the tree thickens and becomes exposed. The leaves of young sequoias are flat and elongated. Their length reaches 25cm. The leaves of long-lived trees are scaly at the top and have arrows at the bottom. The cones of these giants are characterized by rather modest sizes - up to 25 cm in length.
Sequoias are also distinguished by their considerable age. For this they are called mammoth trees or “living fossils.” Archaeologists have proven that in the pre-glacial period the number of these trees was very large and dinosaurs may have walked under them. Their average lifespan can last up to four thousand years. The record holder in this regard is the sequoia with a lifespan of 4484 years, which was determined by the annual rings of a cut tree. The main secret of sequoia's longevity is its widely branched superficial root system, which covers vast areas in search of nutrients and water. In addition, the powerful bark of the tree contains chemical elements that repel pests.
However, the mammoth tree is not the oldest - the life expectancy of some varieties of pines and spruces is even longer. In particular, the Canadian spruce growing in Sweden is approximately 9550 years old. This is the age of the ancient spruce, which was “reborn” in the form of a “clone”.
The concept of the largest tree in the world includes not only height indicators. The volume of the trunk and branches is also taken into account. According to these parameters, the largest trees are sequoias, which grow mainly in America. In particular, there is a similar giant in the Californian National Park and is called “General Sherman”. This general is distinguished by its height of 84 meters and its age of about 2200 years. At the same time, the tree continues to grow.
Sequoias are the undisputed champions in size. However, other majestic plants are also worthy of attention.
In the dense forests of Tasmania grows the giant Centurion eucalyptus. Its height is 101 meters, it holds the record among deciduous trees. Experts have established its approximate age - about 400 years. In the Guinness Book of Records, this eucalyptus is listed as the tallest tree in the world, but already among flowering trees.
Another record holder, but this time in terms of trunk thickness, is considered to be the baobab (Adansonia palmate). The trunk diameter of a thirty-meter baobab can reach 9 meters. Only the European chestnut can compete with it. A representative of this species has been known since the nineteenth century, with a trunk diameter of an incredible 20 meters.
The tallest trees in Russia
First of all, these are Siberian firs, growing up to one hundred meters. Their straight trunk is covered with a dense layer of branches growing directly from the ground. Nordmann fir also reaches great heights of up to 80 meters. This tree is found in the Krasnodar region.
The common spruce will grow up to sixty meters. There are giants among the forest beech trees.
Siberian cedar, reaching forty meters, is considered one of the tallest and most beautiful evergreen coniferous trees.
There is also a famous sequoia in our country - in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden near Yalta. It lags behind its Californian relatives and has a height of about thirty meters.
The tallest tree in the world - interesting facts
- The most gigantic trees on Earth, sequoias, have a unique ability to purify the air from carbon dioxide. Interestingly, this property is much more effective than that of other plants. Owners of sequoia plantations, for refusing to cut them down, receive a certain compensation for lost profits, which is called a carbon credit.
- Fire is not destructive for sequoias, whose bark does not ignite. Fire, on the contrary, prepares the nearby soil for the germination of young shoots, clearing it of other plants. Also, under the influence of heat, the cones quickly open, the seeds of which fall into the ground.
- Sequoia can grow well in almost any conditions, but the process will be very slow and its height will not reach its natural habitat.
As you can see, the tallest tree in the world also turned out to be a record holder in other respects. Well, we can only be glad that humanity has such wonderful neighbors in the plant world. Stay with us and learn a lot more interesting things!