After walking two miles non-stop, my friend and I decided to take a short break under a mulberry tree. Its cool shades gave us a pleasant protection from rays of the scorching hot sun.
That moment, I thought that sometimes people understand the value of things whenever those things are most needed to them. That is what happened in our situation too. We walked by this tree every single day, but only today we noticed it for our selfish reason.
It was a high tree. But, I was quite sure that there were so many other trees out there, in different parts of the world, a lot taller than this one. And, that was the beginning of my research, which was aimed at finding the tallest tree in the world.
I was able to find it. But, I did not see it in real life.
Here are the results of my research:
The tallest tree in the world is called Hyperion, which belongs to the Coast Redwood family, also known as Sequoia. In fact, Coast redwoods, in general, are the tallest trees in the World.
Now let me share 10 facts about Hyperion:
1. Hyperion locates in the Redwood National Park. California, U.S.A.
2. Its height reaches 379.1 ft (116 m), while its diameter measures 13.1ft (4.84m)
3. Two naturalists, Chris K. Atkins, and Michael Tylor found the tallest tree in the world on August 25, 2006. They named the tree Hyperion, after the sun god of Greek mythology. Hyperion was the father of Helios.
4. Hyperion beats the second longest tree in the world, called Helios, only by one meter. However, Hyperion’s diameter is slightly smaller than Helios’ (114.58 m. tall, diameter 4.96m)
5. The second and third the tallest trees, Helios and Icarus, are also in the Redwood National Park.
6. Sequoia trees, Hyperion type trees, grow closer in coastal areas of Northwestern California and Southwestern Oregon at the elevations lower than 9800ft (3000 m).
7. Hyperion and the coast redwoods, in general, have an endangered status in the IUCN red list. The numbers of Coast Redwoods are decreasing due to “inadequate regeneration and natural deaths of (over) mature trees, which are being replaced by other, competing conifers,” according to IUCN.
8. The exact location of the Hyperion is kept secretly for safety reasons.
9. At first, a height of the tree was measured by using a laser equipment. However, later on, it was decided that someone has to climb to the top of the tree and drop measuring tape downwards for accurate height. So, Steve Sillett climbed the tallest tree in the world on September 16, 2006. He documented his climbing process in the video below.
10. The age of the Hyperion is estimated to be 600 years. Nevertheless, the tree is still young and growing. Coast Redwoods are known to live over 2000 years.
