The Tallest Tree in the World - Too Close to the Sun.

The sun-kissed Redwoods towers over California, standing tall, and proud. They should be proud, for Redwoods are the tallest trees, with 300 feet being their average height. Imagine a tree this tall, touching the clouds as they drift by, while you stand close to its majestic shadow, as it devours the ground with the calm shade. Wouldn't that make you feel alive, and one with nature, rather than an organic speck of bipedal dust with a monotonous routine?

Redwoods - The Tallest Tree in the World

The fact that Redwoods are actually the tallest trees was first uncovered in August 2006 by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor, when they met Hyperion. So you can be sure that the Redwood Park in California is officially royalty. And why not, for the tallest trees are to be found there! Hyperion, named after its Greek namesake, means 'the tall one'. This Redwood is 379.7 feet tall! Tall one indeed.

Hyperion is not alone, but it towers above Helios (374.3 feet), Icarus (371.2 feet), and Daedalus (363.4 feet). These giants with their ancient names are feeding the cosmopolitan narrative of all things majestic. Also, the advances in scientific means have ensured the reliability of the statistics provided, which was a challenge a few years back, as there were a lot of mismatch between the actual length of a tree, and the data. So, we can rest assured, for Hyperion won't disappoint us.

The Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) can live for 500-700 years. Although some of these evergreen, coniferous trees can live for more than 2000 years. The Californian climate is especially favourable for them, as they grow upwards and upwards, to meet the sun. 

But then, the story of Tasmania's giant ash tree should also be told, and repeated. They come second in this list, but recently researchers concluded that these trees 'live fast and die young'. This is poignant of sorts, for their true glory will never be known. Atleast for now. Also this breed is known to be plagued by fungus, and unlike our Redwoods, they don't have an innate mechanism to thwart these advances. That is one cause of their early deaths, the other being humans. These flowering trees are indiscriminately chopped down at their prime, which hopefully will cease now, as the World Heritage Committee extended the boundary of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site back in 2013, with an extension of over 170,000 hectares. Besides these two giants, we have the Douglas spruce and Sitka spruce, which are amongst the tallest trees on this earth.

One interesting fact is that, the exact location of Hyperion is a secret. It still stands tall, beside Icarus or Daedalus, but we will never know which one of them is our object of interest. Anyway, here's to standing tall and touching the skies!

Post Written by - Lopamudra