The tallest tree in the world is a coast redwood (Sequoia
sempervirens), named Hyperion after a person in Greek mythology. The tree is no
less than 115.72 m (379.7 feet) tall! This enormous tree was discovered only in
August 2006 in a remote part of Redwood National Park, California by
naturalists Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor. Their first preliminary
measurements were done with professional laser measurement equipment based on
goniometry.
In September 2006 the tree was remeasured by Steve Sillett.
This was done in the most accurate way: he climbed to the top of the tree to
drop a tape from there straight to the ground. This tape drop was filmed for
National Geographic.
In July 2006 some other record tall trees were discovered:
"Helios" (named after the Greek God of the sun), the world's tallest
known tree as of June 2006 (114.09 m), "Icarus" (113.14 m), and
"Daedalus" (110.76 m).
(Source: Monumental
Trees)
