Where do the tallest trees in the world grow? The tallest tree defeated the giant of the stratosphere

Flora Our planet never ceases to amaze with its diversity. A special place allocated to trees. They have grown on Earth since ancient times. Diversity in appearance, shape, habitat, size - all this forces a person to study them with special care. Sometimes you can meet real record holders, for example, the tallest tree in the world. This will be discussed in this article.

Growth champion - general information

Sequoia is the name of the tallest tree in the world. This conifer, found mostly only in California (USA).

It got its name in honor of the Indian chief who invented the Cherokee syllabary and became the founder of a newspaper in this language.

The local population, who are already accustomed to these giants, simply call this plant “mahogany.”

Most of these giants are found in the Muir Forest, Redwood and national park"Sequoia".

Among the giants you can find both “aged” and fairly young specimens.

Currently, the title of "Tallest Tree in the World" belongs to a sequoia called "Hyperion". It is over 115 m tall, 11 m in diameter and about 800 years old.

What is the tallest tree in the world? A little history

In ancient times, when air humidity was higher, sequoia was also found in today's territories of Japan, France, Spitsbergen and the New Siberian Islands. The Ice Age also had a significant impact on settlement.

Until 1848, this tree was not exploited in the forest. This is due to the large size of the plant, since it was difficult to fell it with an ax and even (later) a saw.

The beginning of the destruction of the unique forest is considered to be the “gold rush” that came to these territories in the same 1848. The US authorities took protection of this tree only after about half of these giants had been cut down. Then the sequoia was declared a national property.

Appearance

The crown of the plant has a conical shape. Sequoia branches grow mostly horizontally, less often with a slight downward slope.

The bark of this giant is quite thick and can reach 30 cm in width. It is fibrous and soft to the touch; when you touch it, it seems as if your hand is plunging into it; the sensations are very unusual. When the bark is removed, it is red-brown, but after a while it darkens.

The tallest tree in the world changes its appearance with age. In “youth” (up to 100 years) it resembles a dark green pyramid. The branches densely cover the trunk from the ground to the top. Over time, its lower part becomes exposed and becomes thicker.

The leaves are small, reaching 15-25 cm in length. In young sequoia they grow elongated and flat, in long-lived ones they grow with arrows in the lower crown, and scaly in the upper crown.

The cones of these giants are small, no more chicken egg, approximately 1.5-3.5 cm. Pollination occurs at the end of winter, and after 8-9 months up to 7 seeds ripen. They fall to the ground when the cone dries and opens.

It is expected that by 2017 the record holder will change again, and it will become the Helion sequoia, which now reaches 114 meters. This is due to the fact that the tree grows very quickly, which cannot be said about “Hyperion” with its top damaged by woodpeckers.

Age

Sequoia is not only the tallest tree in the world. It also breaks world records for the fauna of our planet in terms of age. The plant is also called a "living fossil" or mammoth tree. On average, a sequoia lives from two to four thousand years.

The real record holder among representatives of this species is a tree with an age of 4484 years. It was established using the growth rings of a cut sequoia tree in 1965.

In the pre-glacial period, the number of these plants was greater, perhaps dinosaurs also rested under them. Archaeologists have proven that the tree grew in the Jurassic period.

The secret of the longevity of these giants is in their root system. It is superficial and widely branched. Thanks to this, when searching for water and other nutrients it covers a large area.

The special sequoia bark plays a significant role; it is very thick and contains chemical elements, repelling various insects and other pests.

Sequoia National Park

It is located in the state of California and has an area of 1683 sq. km. It got its name thanks to its majestic inhabitants. It was formed in 1890 with the aim of protecting these trees. It has mountainous terrain.

The largest plants are under special protection, surrounded by a fence and even have their own name.

The most popular is the General Sherman tree. You can see him in the Forest of Giants. It is about 2 thousand years old, the plant reaches a height of 81 meters, and its circumference at the base is 32 meters.

The General Sherman Sequoia continues to grow today, each year the diameter of the trunk increases by an average of 1.5 cm. Its wood would be enough to build a six-room house.

Thanks to such amazing characteristics, the tree received the title “largest”.

The tallest tree in the world, the Hyperion sequoia, is located in another Redwood National Park. However, five out of ten record holders among plants for growth grow here.

The national park is also famous for other attractions. Here you can drive a car through a small tunnel cut through the middle of a sequoia tree that fell onto the road and blocked further movement.

The park is also famous for its caves, of which there are more than 250.

Living conditions

Sequoia needs high humidity, that's why it grows near the coast Pacific Ocean. The tree can be found at an altitude of 30-750 m above sea level. It grows both on the shore and in the mountain gorge. It loves fogs, from which it receives up to 30% of all the necessary humidity, which allows the tree to grow taller and larger.

Despite their scarcity (only 500 specimens remain in the world), the tallest trees in the world are very viable. Around the huge stumps left over from the cut down giants, you can always see young shoots, and they also begin to grow instead of a broken branch or top. Usually the “new generation” grows very quickly.

It has been proven that the tallest trees in the world - sequoias - have the ability to purify the air from carbon dioxide better than other plants. Forest owners who have not cut down a significant part of them for a hundred years receive special compensation for lost profits. It's called a carbon credit.

Fires are not destructive to this tree; its bark does not burn. On the contrary, they have great value for his survival. Fire prepares forest floor for germination and thins the forest from other plants, providing access sun rays to young shoots. The heat also causes the buds to open, causing the seeds to fall to the ground.

Sequoia will grow well in other conditions (someone even tries to plant it at home), but the process will be long, and it will not reach its majestic size, as in natural environment habitat.

The tallest and largest trees in the world

These titles are transferred from one to another creation of nature from time to time.

Sequoia is the absolute record holder among all trees. However, you should not ignore other plants.

A giant eucalyptus from the dense forests of Tasmania is the tallest deciduous tree in the world. It reaches 101 meters. Experts have established that its age is 400 years old, the plant was named “Centurion”. It is included in the Guinness Book of Records because it is the tallest flowering tree in the world.

One should not ignore another giant - a record holder, but this time in terms of trunk thickness. This is a baobab, or Adansonia palmata. It grows only 30 m in height, but its diameter can reach 9 m. This plant does not have growth rings, which will make it difficult to determine its age. However, thanks to special analyzes it has been proven that a tree with a trunk diameter of 4.5 meters is approximately 5000 years old.

Only the European chestnut can compete with the baobab. A tree with a trunk diameter of 20 m has been known since 1845.

Tallest tree in Russia

Our country also has its own giants. These are Siberian firs. They grow up to 60-100 meters. The straight trunk of the tree is densely covered with branches, making it seem as if the crown starts from the ground itself.

IN Krasnodar region the Nordmann fir is known, which favorable conditions reaches 80 m in height. Even the common spruce, which grows throughout Russia, can stretch up to 60 meters.

There is another tall tree - it is 18 meters Siberian cedar, its trunk girth is 3 m, age is 250 years. This evergreen coniferous tree is considered one of the most beautiful in this region. Siberian cedar can reach a maximum height of 40 meters, since it grows for up to 500 years.

History of discovery
Sizes and ages
Location
Other natural giants

Tree gigantic sizes A member of the evergreen sequoia species, Hyperion is considered the world's tallest plant. Its growth, according to the latest measurements, exceeds 115 m. The giant is listed in the Guinness Book of Records and is considered a national treasure of the United States.

History of discovery

Despite its cyclopean size and solid, more than 600-year-old age, this natural monument was discovered relatively recently - in 2006. There is nothing surprising in this, because a giant tree grows among similar ones in Redwood National Park, located in northern California, near San Francisco.

American naturalists discovered the plant. Its height was measured manually by a team of scientists using a special tape lowered and stretched from the top to the ground. The process was filmed and then shown on the National Geographic channel.

The sharp decline in those living before our era magnificent trees contributed to their active cutting, which continued until recently. Almost until the end of the 70s of the 20th century, logging was carried out in the growing area of evergreen sequoia. The wood of coniferous giants is in demand in various industries due to its low cost, excellent technical characteristics and beautiful appearance. This durable, uniformly dense material, not prone to cracking, which lends itself well to any type of processing, is used in the production of furniture, construction and finishing materials, various turning products, pulp and paper.

Active logging of redwoods was limited by the government only in 1978, when more than 90% of the timber was destroyed. It is possible that specimens died under the saw before this moment large sizes than Hyperion. Although coniferous species are restored from the stump growth quite quickly, and the sequoias are not yet in danger of completely disappearing, it would hardly be possible to see the mighty centuries-old giants if logging continues. It can be considered that the tallest tree survived by a miracle, because its fellows, which grew several tens of meters away, were destroyed.

Sizes and ages

It turned out that the giant is more than 3 m taller than the Stratospheric Giant sequoia. Until 2006, this tree was the tallest in the world. The name Hyperion was given to the new record holder in honor of the ancient Greek mythological titan Hyperion, who was distinguished by his unprecedented growth and mighty strength.

The exact height of the giant sequoia is 115.61 m, the girth of the trunk at 1.5 m from the ground is more than 40 m, the volume of wood is about 530 cubic meters. m. For comparison: the height of the famous London Big Ben is only 96 m, and the New York Statue of Liberty without a pedestal is almost half the height of Hyperion.

The age of the record holder is determined approximately: according to botanists, he can be from 600 to 800 years old. Considering that the total lifespan of these relict trees exceeds 2500 years, Hyperion can be considered a young sequoia.

It turned out that the height of the tallest tree continues to increase by 2.5 cm annually. For sequoia this is extremely little; usually these rocks rise at least 2 m per year. But Hyperion was out of luck. Having overtaken all the neighboring trees in height, he encountered a problem - woodpeckers began to beat the soft bark and wood of the upper part.

Location

The territory of the national park and the adjacent reserve - the Muir Forest - is one of the few remaining habitats of relict coniferous species. Evergreen sequoia and its sister species, the giant sequoiadendron, are endangered tree species. They were widespread throughout the pre-glacial period. Northern Hemisphere. Currently, plants have survived only in a few small areas of land: in California, in limited areas of Texas and Maryland, in a narrow strip along the eastern Canadian coast.

Unlike giants similar in size, Hyperion is located not in the central flat part of the forest, where the soil is saturated with moisture, but on the slope of a mountain. Apparently, for this reason, little attention was paid to him before.

Where exactly is it located in the protected park? national treasure, the general public is not informed. The reason for this is the fear of increased attention from numerous tourists. It’s rare that any of them wouldn’t want to be photographed hugging the giant. There would definitely be people who wanted to climb up, break off a piece of bark as a souvenir, or leave traces of their visit with a knife right on the trunk. Constant crowds of hunters to admire the curiosity would certainly upset the fragile ecological balance of the reserve. To protect the unique specimen and its surrounding nature, the location is kept secret.

Other natural giants

The Hyperion tree is the most tall plant, known in the world today. However, there were more powerful giants in nature. For example, in 1900, Pseudohemlock thyssolifolia or Menzies, a coniferous tree resembling a fir, was discovered in Canada. Her height was almost 126 m.

In 1872, a eucalyptus tree was recorded in Australia, reaching a height of almost 132 m. It was possible to measure it after the barrel fell. There is information - government documents records of forest inspectors, who indicate the presence of even larger specimens of eucalyptus - up to 140 m. Unfortunately, these trees have not survived to this day, and it is impossible to verify the information.

In 2008, another natural monument was registered in Tasmania - the world's tallest eucalyptus. Its height was measured from an airplane with a laser and was almost 100 m. There is no other deciduous tree in the world that is as tall.

Many biologists and geographers believe that known to mankind record-breaking trees approach the absolute maximum in growth, which is determined by the laws of nature. The existence of specimens above 130 m is questioned, since the trunks of such giants would not have the ability to transport moisture and nutrients so high.

In the world it is a tree from the Cypress family, sequoia. On average, the height of sequoia reaches ninety meters, and some specimens grow up to one hundred and ten meters. The age of such trees reaches three thousand years.

The name Sequoyah comes from the Iroquois languages spoken by the Cherokee Indians. These languages use a unique syllabary. This alphabet was invented by George Hess, aka Sequoia, a Cherokee leader.

The tallest tree in the world has a cone-shaped crown, and its branches grow horizontally or tilt slightly downwards. The tree has bark, the thickness of which reaches thirty centimeters. Its root in the ground extends to a shallow depth. The leaves reach a length of up to fifteen to twenty millimeters, and modified shoots - cones - develop at the ends of the branches. Each such cone contains from three to seven seeds, which, when ripe, spill out onto the ground and subsequently germinate.

The tallest tree in the world grows in California and is also found in the province of western Canada. Redwood forests stretch along the Pacific coast of North America.

A necessary condition for the growth of sequoia is the high humidity carried by sea air. Therefore, sometimes trees grow near the very edge of the sea, but sometimes they grow at an altitude of about a kilometer. The tallest trees in the world usually grow in ravines great depth or in the gorges, as there may be all year round penetrate the flow humid air. Trees that grow in cool, windy conditions higher than the fog layer forms are usually short and small.

The sequoia, which was given the name Hyperion, is the tallest tree in the world. In 2006, it was discovered north of San Francisco (California) in the United States of America. The area of the park, overgrown with ancient redwood forests, is almost forty-five thousand hectares. The discoverers of what has survived to this day giant tree became naturalist Chris Atkins along with ecologist Robert van Pelt, amateur naturalist Michael Taylor, and biologist Steve Saillette.

As for our country, the tallest tree in Russia is growing right on the street of the small Kuzbass city of Berezovsky in Kemerovo region. After measuring the height of the tree, experts found that its height reaches eighteen meters, and the circumference of the trunk is three meters and thirty centimeters. The exact age of the tree has not yet been established, but it is approximately two hundred and fifty years old. More full information It will be possible to obtain information about the age of the cedar only after a thorough examination. It is not yet clear whether the tree will be taken under protection as such. In order for it to be recognized as such, the tree must not only be of considerable age: it is necessary that some non-fictional historical events or legends, legends.

The flora of our planet never ceases to amaze with its diversity. A special place is given to trees. They have grown on Earth since ancient times. Diversity in appearance, shape, habitat, size - all this forces a person to study them with special care. Sometimes you can meet real record holders, for example, the tallest tree in the world. This will be discussed in this article.

Growth champion - general information

Sequoia is the name of the tallest tree in the world. This is a coniferous tree found mostly only in the state of California (USA).

It got its name in honor of the Indian chief who invented the Cherokee syllabary and became the founder of a newspaper in this language.

The local population, who are already accustomed to these giants, simply call this plant “mahogany.”

Most of these giants are found in the Muir Forest, Redwood Nature Reserves and Sequoia National Park.

Among the giants you can find both “aged” and fairly young specimens.

Currently, the title of "Tallest Tree in the World" belongs to a sequoia called "Hyperion". It is over 115 m tall, 11 m in diameter and about 800 years old.

What is the tallest tree in the world? A little history

Until 1848, this tree was not exploited in the forest. This is due to the large size of the plant, since it was difficult to fell it with an ax and even (later) a saw.

Appearance

The crown of the plant has a conical shape. Sequoia branches grow mostly horizontally, less often with a slight downward slope.

The tallest tree in the world changes its appearance as it ages. In “youth” (up to 100 years) it resembles a dark green pyramid. The branches densely cover the trunk from the ground to the top. Over time, its lower part becomes exposed and becomes thicker.

The leaves are small, reaching 15-25 cm in length. In young sequoia they grow elongated and flat, in long-lived ones they grow with arrows in the lower crown, and scaly in the upper crown.

The cones of these giants are small, no larger than a chicken egg, approximately 1.5-3.5 cm. Pollination occurs at the end of winter, and after 8-9 months up to 7 seeds ripen. They fall to the ground when the cone dries and opens.

Age

The real record holder among representatives of this species is a tree with an age of 4484 years. It was established using the growth rings of a cut sequoia tree in 1965.

In the pre-glacial period, the number of these plants was greater, perhaps dinosaurs also rested under them. Archaeologists have proven that the tree grew in the Jurassic period.

The secret of the longevity of these giants is in their root system. It is superficial and widely branched. Thanks to this, when searching for water and other nutrients, it covers a larger area.

The special sequoia bark plays a significant role; it is very thick and contains chemical elements that repel various insects and other pests.

Sequoia National Park

The largest plants are under special protection, surrounded by a fence and even have their own name.

The General Sherman Sequoia continues to grow today, each year the diameter of the trunk increases by an average of 1.5 cm. Its wood would be enough to build a six-room house.

Thanks to such amazing characteristics, the tree received the title “largest”.

The tallest tree in the world, the Hyperion sequoia, is located in another Redwood National Park. However, five out of ten record holders among plants for growth grow here.

The national park is also famous for other attractions. Here you can drive a car through a small tunnel cut through the middle of a sequoia tree that fell onto the road and blocked further movement.

The park is also famous for its caves, of which there are more than 250.

Living conditions

Sequoia needs high humidity, so it grows along the Pacific coast. The tree can be found at an altitude of 30-750 m above sea level. It grows both on the shore and in the mountain gorge. It loves fogs, from which it receives up to 30% of all the necessary humidity, which allows the tree to grow taller and larger.

Fires are not destructive to this tree; its bark does not burn. On the contrary, they are of great importance for his survival. Fire prepares the forest floor for germination and thins the forest of other plants, allowing sunlight to reach young shoots. The heat also causes the buds to open, causing the seeds to fall to the ground.

Sequoia will grow well in other conditions (someone even tries to plant it at home), but the process will be long, and it will not reach its majestic size as in its natural habitat.

The tallest and largest trees in the world

These titles are transferred from one to another creation of nature from time to time.

Sequoia is the absolute record holder among all trees. However, you should not ignore other plants.

The giant eucalyptus from the dense forests of Tasmania is the tallest deciduous tree in the world. It reaches 101 meters. Experts have established that its age is 400 years old, the plant was named “Centurion”. It is included in the Guinness Book of Records because it is the tallest flowering tree in the world.

Only the European chestnut can compete with the baobab. A tree with a trunk diameter of 20 m has been known since 1845.

Tallest tree in Russia

In the Krasnodar region, the Nordmann fir is known, which under favorable conditions reaches 80 m in height. Even the common spruce, which grows throughout Russia, can stretch up to 60 meters.

There is another tall tree - this is an 18-meter Siberian cedar, its trunk girth is 3 m, age 250 years. This evergreen coniferous tree is considered one of the most beautiful in this region. Siberian cedar can reach a maximum height of 40 meters, since it grows up to 500 years.

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 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 Myrtaceae 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. Distribution area of this plant This is the Pacific coast of North America.

Until 2000, the tallest tree was considered to be the 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 - professor 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.

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, since 1932 this oak has been considered historical monument France. 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.