Sequoias are the tallest trees in the world. Video: the tallest sequoia tree from the cypress family

05.03.2020

There are many tall trees around the world whose extraordinary height has been exaggerated and debatable. However, with the help of the latest measurement tools, such as laser rangefinders and tape fall measurements, it was possible to find out the true height of giant trees. Here ten tallest trees in the world, which remain the same as the world changes around them.

Almost all of the presented trees are so tall that it is simply impossible to photograph them completely. Dense vegetation also interferes with this.

The height of the tree is 112.20 m.

Located in Montgomery Woods (a nature reserve in the USA), Mendocino held the title of the world's tallest tree from 1996 to 2000. Other sequoias grow near Mendocino, but if you look at them from above, the giant towers over his fellows in the same way that Arnold Schwarzenegger towers over the kids in the movie Kindergarten Cop.

Height - 112.56 m.

The tree, located in the forest of John Davison Rockefeller in Humboldt (USA), was considered the tallest tree on the planet until number ten in our rating, that is, from 1995 to 1996. In terms of trunk diameter, it is inferior to Mendocino (3.9 meters versus 4.19 meters). And it was very difficult for researchers and just curious to find it, since there were no photographs or coordinates of the Paradox at that time. Of all the giant trees known today, the Paradox stands out for its beauty.

Height - 112.6 m.

Neighbor of Paradox, also native to California's Humboldt Redwood National Park and the eighth longest tree on Earth. Named after the billionaire, famous not only for his fortune, but also for the number of years he lived. The long, slender "body" of Rockefeller invariably delights those who are lucky enough to see him. And this is not easy to do, since the exact coordinates of most of the tallest trees are kept secret (it’s easier than protecting them from vandal tourists around the clock), and it’s not so easy to distinguish Rockefeller from other sequoias from below. Its trunk diameter has not yet been measured.

Height - 112.62 m.

And again, the “resident” of Humboldt Park got into the top 10 giant trees. It was discovered by Paul Zinke and Al Strangenburger. Like other redwoods, Lauralin is a whole ecosystem, birds nest in it, insects live, lichens and other representatives of the local flora sprout. It is noteworthy that the location of Lauralin is not hidden from the public.

Height - 112.63 m.

One of the tallest trees grows in California's Redwood National Park. Searching for Orion is an almost impossible task because the tree giant sits right next to two other giant sequoias, although it is twice their size when viewed from a height. Orion is about 1500 years old.

Height - 112.71 m.

A giant with a long name, belonging to the redwoods, was discovered in 1994. At that time, he was considered the largest known tree in the world and held this title for a year. The tree is located near Redwood Creek, but its exact location is kept secret. In terms of trunk diameter, it is larger than Mendocino and Paradox (4.39 meters).

Altitude at the time of discovery - 112.34 m

This worthy representative of the tallest trees was found in 2000 on the territory of the Humboldt National Park. Then the tree was 112.34 meters high, but continues to grow. In 2010, it reached a height of 113.11 meters. Like all the other numbers on our hit parade, the Stratospheric Giant belongs to the redwoods and is fenced in by many trees that are almost as tall. The tree's exact location is being hidden to prevent it from being damaged by overly active citizens.

Height - 113.14 m.

In third place on the longest tree chart is the redwood discovered by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor in Redwood Park, California. Icarus got his name for the dead, sun-bleached "crown". However, there are enough other trees in Redwood, with dead tops, so it will be intentionally difficult to find Icarus, and the public is not told exactly where he is.

Height - 114.58 m.

Another tallest sequoia tree found in the Redwood park area by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor in July 2006. It is not much shorter than the competitor, which occupies the first line of the rating.

1. Hyperion - 115.61 m

Leading the top 10 tallest trees in the world is a sequoia from Northern California, bearing the proud name of Hyperion. The volume of its trunk is 502 m³, and its age is estimated at 700-800 years. Tireless naturalists Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor have discovered a tree in Redwood National Park and believe that Hyperion's height could have been higher if not for woodpeckers. They damaged the trunk of a titanic tree at its very top. The last measurement of Hyperion was carried out in 2015.

Video version

Sequoias, also known as redwoods, are the tallest tree species on Earth. They could compete with representatives of the species "pretty fir" (aka Douglas fir) and eucalyptus trees in Australia, but the largest of these trees were ruthlessly cut. By the way, the same fate awaited Hyperion, but fortunately for him, the Redwood Valley in the 70s of the last century became the Redwood National Park and cutting down trees was prohibited there. There are currently hundreds of sequoias exceeding 100 m in height and there are no living trees of other species exceeding this height.

Although Hyperion is unsurpassed in terms of trunk length, it is inferior in volume, mass and age to a sequoia called General Sherman. The height of General Sherman is modest, compared to other representatives of the rating of the highest trees - 83.8 m, but the weight is a record 1900 tons, the trunk volume is 1487 m³, and the age reaches from 2300 to 2700 years.

The tallest tree in the world - Hyperion

Up until August 2006, the title " tallest tree in the world” belonged to a giant 112.7-meter sequoia, nicknamed the “stratospheric giant”. It is located in the Humboldt National Park in California. To give you some idea of the massive size of this tree, let's say it's twice the height of the Statue of Liberty, minus the foundation.

But the giant lost its status when two naturalists, Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor, stumbled across a cluster of trees in California's Redwood National Park that were taller than any they had seen before. They made preliminary measurements using professional laser equipment, and found not one, not two, but three trees that were taller than the "stratospheric giant."

Hyperion means "very high"

The height of the tallest tree, named Hyperion, is 115 meters.. If you have no idea how big Hyperion is, then imagine: the height of Big Ben in London is 96.3 m, that is, it is pretty much lower than this tree.

This gigantic redwood (sequoia) would have been even taller if not for the woodpeckers, who damaged the very top of the trunk. This slowed down Hyperion's upward movement.

When Atkins and Taylor announced their discovery, a team of scientists led by environmentalist Steve Sillett from Humboldt State University arrived at the park to measure the find.

This was done in the most precise way: Sillett climbed to the top of the tree to lower the tape from there directly to the ground. The descent of this tape was filmed for National Geographic.

Hyperion was very lucky: in the 70s of the 20th century, just a few hundred kilometers from it, there was a clear felling of trees. About two weeks before a man with a saw would approach Hyperion, Redwood Valley had become Redwood National Park. Lumber companies feared this would happen and worked 24/7 harvesting valuable mahogany and ruthlessly destroying old growth forests that were there long before humans entered the valley. Most redwoods, from which the tallest trees grow, were less fortunate than Hyperion. To date, only 4% of mahogany forests have survived in America.

By redwood standards, Hyperion is quite young and still growing. Sillett believes that the tree is 'only' 600 years old, which is about 20 years in human terms.

Hyperion's exact location is kept secret by park rangers to avoid the tourist crush near the tree. This can upset the delicate balance of the forest ecosystem and harm the tree. After all, tourists can not only admire the huge tree, but also chip off part of the bark “for memory” or scratch something on it in the style of “Jack and Sally were here.”

As Sillett put it, trees can't outrun the paparazzi like people do, and history teaches us that bad things happen to trees that become too popular.

It is not at all clear whether Hyperion is the tallest of the redwoods or simply the largest sequoia known to us. After all, 96% of redwood forests have become victims of lumberjacks.

Tallest tree ever measured

The tallest tree in the world that was measured in the 19th century is not a sequoia, but a mountain ash.

In 1872, the report of the Australian inspector of state forests, William Ferguson, mentions a fallen and scorched eucalyptus regal (aka Eucalyptus regnans, aka mountain ash), which during his lifetime had height at least 132 meters.
Around the same time, several specimens 140 m tall were recorded. Alas, we cannot verify these measurements: all these trees have been cut down. Rowan has been and is an important building material in Australia.

The tallest living eucalyptus trees can be found in Tasmania. The height of the eucalyptus bearing the proud nickname "Centurion" is about 100 meters. It is the tallest living deciduous tree on earth. . It was discovered in October 2008 using an aircraft-mounted laser, which measured terrain elevation, forest height and forest biomass.

How tall can a tree be

In an article entitled "An investigation into the limits of maximum tree growth," Jonathan Amos of the BBC's science department argues that the maximum the height of the tree can be about 130 meters.

As the tree reaches this mark, it will pump less and less water and nutrients. They simply won't be enough for new growth.

There is no living tree in the world that would grow up to 130 meters.

To date, the tallest tree in the world is the Hyperion sequoia.

The height of this tree is 115.6 m. The diameter of the trunk 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 that grow on mainland Australia, and North American sequoias.

The tallest tree in the world video:

The tallest tree among the eucalyptus.

Eucalyptus is the tallest evergreen flowering plant on the planet, belonging to the myrtle family, the genus is 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 genus Eucalyptus. A specimen is known that has grown to 189 m. To date, the highest eucalyptus "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.

The 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 area of \u200b\u200bdistribution 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 112.2m high and 4.19m in diameter. It is located in the USA, California.

The oldest tree - a clone on the planet - Tikko.

Old Tikko is a spruce 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 world's oldest single living clone tree. It was discovered by Leif Kullman, a professor of physical geography, who named this tree after 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 tree dies and a new one grows.

The oldest tree

Of the single trees, the oldest is Methuselah.

This spiny intermountain pine was discovered in 1953 by botanist Edmund Shulman. The approximate age of the tree is 4846 years. It was planted in 2831 BC. To date, this tree is considered alive and it grows in the Inyo National Forest in California (USA) at an altitude of 3000 meters above sea level.

The thickest tree is Thule.

This tree grows in Mexico, in the city of Santa Maria del Tule. The height of the tree is 40 m, the diameter of the trunk is 14 m, the circumference is 40, and the weight is 636 tons. If 30 people join hands, they can embrace this tree. On the trunk of this tree you can see the figures of animals: a lion, a crocodile, an elephant. This tree may have inspired the creators of the "Tree of Life" in the Animal Kingdom in Florida.

The mysterious "tree of life".

In Florida, in the Animal Kingdom Park, there is such a tree of life. The height of this tree is 44 meters. 12 craftsmen worked to create a tree that depicts many animals. 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 lone acacia grew, which was 300 years old. Not a single plant grew in the vicinity of it for 200 km. For caravaners, the crown of the tree served as a guide in the desert. To extract water from the ground, the roots of the tree sprouted 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, the same lonely tree grows, as Tener once used to, but a living 400-year-old tree - Shajarat-al-Hayat. The tree belongs to the species Prosopis cineraria, whose roots go 50 meters underground.

Oldest oak - chapel

Thanks to the botanist Henri Gadot de Kervil, since 1932 this oak has been considered a historical monument of France. There is a possibility that the tree is over 800 years old. Its height is 15 meters, the circumference is 16 meters. Inside the oak there are two chapels, which are reached by a spiral staircase. Every year this chapel is visited by up to 40 thousand people.

Trees. Fight for life.

Socotra Island, Yemen.

Canada. Port of Renfrew. Small tree on a log.

City of Kalaloh. Washington.

Crimea. On the way to the Foros church.

The tallest tree in Russia is a fir - a coniferous tree belonging to the pine family.

If you liked this material, share it with your friends on social networks. Thank you!

There are numerous trees around the world whose extraordinary height has been exaggerated and disputed. However, with the help of the latest measuring instruments, such as the laser range finder, mankind has been able to figure out the height of trees without causing serious deviations.

We bring to your attention the ten tallest trees that have remained to grow in their planting sites, regardless of the changes in the world around them.

Rating of the tallest trees in the world

Mendocino - 112.20 m.

This tree is located in the Montgomery Woods State Natural Preserve, which is a state-owned park located in the California area, USA. It is one of the tallest trees in the world, and "Mendiziono" was the tallest tree in the world from 1996 to 2000. The type of this tree is sequoia. This tree has a height of almost 112.20 m and an average diameter of 4.19 m.

Scientists conducted research and found that the tree is at least 1000 years old.

Paradox - 112.56 m.

Next on the list of the tallest trees in the world is Paradox, a variety of which was bred by the American breeder and gardener Luther Burbank. "Paradox" is a blend of black walnut and English walnut. It also belongs to the sequoia tree genus. Paradox is located in California, USA. Its height is 112.56 m and its diameter is 3.90 m.

Rockefeller - 112.60 m.

Another tree on our list, located in Redwood National Park, California, USA. The exact diameter of this giant is unknown, but its height is 112.60 m.

Lauralin - 113.03 m.

Also "Lauralin" refers to trees long-lived. After some research, scientists found out that it lives for almost 1600 years.

Orion - 112.63 m

Another tallest tree on Earth, located in Redwood National Park. "Orion" also refers to the sequoia type. The height of the Orion is 112.63 meters, and the diameter is 4.33 meters.

National Geographic Society - 112.71 m.

Until 1995, the National Geographic Society was the tallest tree on the planet. But then mankind found even bigger giants, and therefore this tree fell to fifth place on our list.

The National Geographic Society is growing in the same Redwood National Park. The height of this giant is 112.71 meters and the diameter is 4.39 meters.

Giant of the stratosphere - 113.7 m.

The fourth tallest tree on planet Earth. Its height is 113.11 meters above ground level, and its diameter is approximately 5.18 m. It was discovered in July 2000 in California, USA. To ensure safety from damaging tourists, the exact location and position of the tree is not disclosed to the public.

Icarus - 113.14 m.

The Icarus tree is located in Redwoods Park, a tributary of Redwood Creek, California, United States of America. The height of this tree is almost 113.14 m, and the diameter is almost 3.78 m. "Icarus" was found in July 2006.

Helios - 114.58 m.

With a height of 114.58 m, "Helios" is the second largest tree on Earth. This tree was at the top of the ranking until August 2006. It is also located in Redwoods Park, a tributary of Redwood Creek, California.

Hyperion - 115.61 m.

Hyperion - tallest tree in the world. It was discovered in August 2006. This sequoia also grows in Redwood Park, but the exact location is hidden from tourists. Scientists have calculated that the average age of this giant is about 700-900 years.

The height of the Hyperion is 115.61 m.

What does the tallest tree in the world look like - a 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 with a thickness of up to 30 cm, but at the same time 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 has a red-brown color, and darkens over time. With age, the appearance of the sequoia changes.

Until about a century old, it is a kind of pyramid of dark green color, densely covered with branches from top to bottom. Over time, the entire lower part of the tree thickens and becomes bare. The leaves of young sequoias are flat and elongated. Their length reaches 25cm. The leaves of long-lived trees are scaly in the upper part, with arrows below. The cones of these giants are characterized by rather modest sizes - up to 25 cm long.

Sequoias also differ in solid 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 walked under them. Their average life span can be 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 growth rings of a sawn tree. The main secret of sequoia longevity is a widely branched surface root system that captures 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 age of 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, growing mainly in America. In particular, there is a similar giant in the California National Park and is called "General Sherman". This general is distinguished by a height of 84 meters and an age of about 2200 years. Meanwhile, the tree continues to grow.

Sequoias are the undisputed champions in size. However, other majestic plants are worthy of attention.
In the dense forests of Tasmania, the giant eucalyptus "Centurion" grows. Its height is 101 meters, it is the record holder 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 from flowering trees.

Another champion, but already in terms of the thickness of the trunk, is the baobab (Adansonia digitata). The diameter of the trunk of a thirty-meter baobab can reach 9 meters. Only the European chestnut can compete with it. Since the nineteenth century, a representative of this species has been known, the trunk diameter of which is an incredible 20 meters.

The tallest trees in Russia

First of all, these are Siberian firs, growing up to a hundred meters. Their straight trunk is covered with a dense layer of branches growing directly from the ground. Also, Nordmann fir reaches high heights up to 80 meters. This tree is found in the Krasnodar Territory.

Norway spruce will grow up to sixty meters. There are giants among the forest beeches.
One of the tallest and most beautiful evergreen conifers is the Siberian cedar, reaching forty meters.
There is also a famous sequoia in our country - in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden near Yalta. It lags behind the California relatives and has a height of about thirty meters.

The tallest tree in the world - interesting facts

The most giant sequoia trees on Earth have the unique ability to purify the air from carbon dioxide. Interestingly, this property is much more effective than other plants. Owners of sequoia plantations, for refusing to cut them down - for lost profits receive a certain compensation, which is called a carbon credit.
Fire is not fatal to sequoia, 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 environment, but the process will be very slow and its height will not reach the height of its natural habitat.

As you can see, the tallest tree in the world also holds the record for other parameters. Well, we can only be glad that humanity has such wonderful neighbors in the plant world. Stay tuned and find out more!