Trees; tallest, biggest, oldest

by ARTiFactor on Sep. 29th, 2006
in Diversity of Organisms

comments

New tallest tree: photo by Art Oglesby

New record tallest tree

Not one, but three giant redwood trees have been found in Redwood National Forest that are taller than former "tallest tree in the world". An expansion of the Redwood National Park's boundary just 30 years ago saved these trees from being harvested.

The tallest of the three new finds, a redwood named Hyperion, measures 378.1 feet.(edit:379.1 feet) Next in line, Helios, stands at 376.3 feet; Icarus, the third, reaches 371.2 feet. San Francisco Chronicle

Stratosphere Giant, found in August 2000 in nearby Humboldt Redwoods State Park, was the previous champion at 370 feet.

The largest tree is a sequoia

Genral Sherman is the largest tree in the world. It, too, is in California in Giants Forest in Sequoia National Park.

In January of 2006 the largest branch on the tree, seen most commonly in older photos as an "L" or "golf club" shape protruding from about 1/4th down the trunk, broke off. No one was present for the incident, but the branch, which had a diameter of over 2 m (6 feet) and a length of over 30 m (100 feet), bigger than most trees, smashed part of the enclosing fence and cratered the walkway pavement surrounding the sequoia.

The oldest tree is a bristlecone pine

Methuselah is the name of the world's oldest living tree. It is located in the Inyo National Forest in California. Methuselah is over 4750 years old. An older living tree known as the martyr tree was tragically cut down by a researcher before laws protecting trees existed.

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Your Comments, Thoughts, Questions, Ideas

robert says:

That is some tree! How did you measure , and find it? I'm an arborist in British Columbia and I'd like to visit this tree. It sure doesn't appear to have much taper and the trunk looks to have some major decay.

posted on Tue, 12/12/2006 - 11:03am

ARTiFactor says:

The quote below is from the "edit: 379.1 feet" link above.

Officials would not pinpoint the exact location of Hyperion because they are worried that too many visitors could damage the tree's delicate ecosystem.
Steve Sillett, a forestry professor at Humboldt State University, recently climbed Hyperion and measured it at 379.1 feet, one foot taller than previously thought.

By climbing and actually dropping a line for measurement gave a different result than the previous guestimate via sighting and trigonometry.

The photo is one I took last summer of a random tall tree. When I tried to get a photo of the oldest tree I was again informed that its location and identity were not being revealed.

posted on Tue, 12/12/2006 - 3:55pm

Kevin Colon says:

I' ve been facinated with trees for several years now and all i have learned is from pure curiosity and personal casual encuonters with several admerable species. The reson for me writting these word is to see if it posible for someone to spill knowledge of the real depths a tree reaches as an organism. I really feel compelled to having such knowledge. So i thought to my self, why not ask here. looking foward to this... If it's to much, simply resume what your years of observation have given you.

posted on Sun, 07/29/2007 - 11:42am

Diana says:

Our science teacher told us to search for the names of the tallest and oldest tree in the world and actually i saw the pic of it at the wikipedia.com and i cant believe it.. i wish i could see it in rl...

posted on Sat, 09/08/2007 - 5:10pm

M. D. Vaden of Oregon says:

It's amazing how well the trunks of the tallest or giants can blend in. You almost have to be within a few hundred feet or much less to know for sure.

There may only be one image of Hyperion on the internet.

For the "largest" Lost Monarch, I think only 3 small images of part of the trunk were online, and it was a hard search to even find those.

I am a regular hiker and forest explorer, and have loctated the Grove of Titans. Some nice size images have been provided here:

Grove of Titans redwoods & photos

All are cropped just enough to show the trees without clues for locating.

Someday, I'd like to see Atlas Grove and Illuvatar, but am not sure about the bushwhack needed to see Hyperion.

posted on Fri, 03/21/2008 - 11:56am

ARTiFactor says:

Thank you so much for commenting. I appreciate your providing the link to your website. I encourage readers to click on the above link (in red) where you will find amazing photos and links to videos of these giant trees.

posted on Fri, 03/21/2008 - 3:31pm

kejyana says:

well all i have to say is it is COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

posted on Sat, 03/22/2008 - 12:08pm

M. D. Vaden of Oregon says:

Howdy.

Thanks to ARTiFactor... and nice pic - you look like a very happy person !!

Update...

Few weeks after I posted up above in last reply, I did find Atlas Grove in north California. So I added an image of Illuvatar to my page, and also in my redwood albums. Same page as listed above ...

California Redwood Trees: Atlas Grove / Grove of Titans

Hyperion has not been on my list to research and look for. I'm moving north to Beaverton, OR, in 7 days. But on my planned once-per-year visit to hike the redwoods, I may spend 2 days looking for Hyperion if the location if still undisclosed. If it gets published - certainly less time required to view it.

The way to make the search fun, even if a secret tree is not found, is to enjoy the rest of the forest at the same time, so that it's enjoyable no matter what.

Best,

M. D. Vaden of Oregon

posted on Thu, 05/01/2008 - 1:16pm

Anonymous says:

TREES ARE THE PLANETS TRUE TREASURE, OUR LUNGS AND THE BEAUTY OF OUR SIGHT.

THEY CANNOT BE OWNED, THEY SHOULD NOT BE KILLED. iT IS PART OF THE WHOLE, THEY SHOULD BE PRESERVED.

GOVERNMENTS HAVE THE MONEY, THE POWER, THE WAYS, TO SAVE THIS TREASURES.

ONE SIMPLE DECISION COULD SAVE THOUSANDS, EVEN MILLIONS OF THESE TREES.

TIME SEEMS ENDLESS TO TREES, BUT HUMANS CRAVING MONEY, ARE THEIR WORST ENEMIES....AND IN MINUTES THEY COULD DESTROY WHAT TOOK THOUSANDS OF YEARS TO GROW...

A GOOD ECONOMY, IS THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR PLANET, WE ARE EATING IT, DESTROYING IT, KILLING OUR OWN HABITAT AND HOME.

MAYBE ONE SIMPLE LAW COULD CHANGE DESTINY: DO NOT CUT ANY TREE ABOVE 5 FT IN DIAMETER ANYWHERE.

GET RICH! SAVE THE PLANET! STOP BUYING!

BY DAPACU

posted on Wed, 09/10/2008 - 3:57am

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