List of tallest trees

This is a list of the tallest known species of trees, as reflected by measurements of the tallest reliably-measured individual specimen. Although giant trees grow in both tropical and temperate regions, they are very restricted geographically and phylogenetically. All the known giant trees occur in mesic climates, and nearly all of them are found in three regions: western North America (from California to British Columbia), Southeast Asia (especially Borneo) and southeastern Australia (especially Tasmania).

Tallest living individuals by species The following are the tallest reliably-measured specimens from the top species. This table contains information on all species for which at least one specimen has been reliably measured at or taller.

+List of tallest trees by speciesSpeciesHeightTree nameClassLocationContinentReferencesMetresFeetCoast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)HyperionConiferRedwood National Park, California, United StatesWestern North America It reached in 2019. The second and sixth tallest trees, both redwoods, were also found at Redwood National Park in 2006 when Hyperion was found, and were named Helios , and Icarus tall. The coast redwoods Nugget at , Stratosphere Giant at , and Paradox at are the third, fourth, and fifth tallest trees.South Tibetan cypress (Cupressus austrotibetica) South Tibetan Cypress No. IConiferYarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, Tibet Autonomous Region, ChinaEast Asia Claim in article that it is second tallest tree in the world is consistent with sloppy reading of Wikipedia's List of tallest trees as of June 21, 2023, but is apparently false: an earlier LiveScience article in 2022 reports on heights of three taller coastal redwood trees in the United States: Hyperion, Helios, and Icarus (third tallest, at measured in 2006).Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis)ConiferRedwood National Park, California, United StatesWestern North AmericaCoast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii)ConiferSiuslaw National Forest, Oregon, United StatesWestern North AmericaYellow meranti (Richetia faguetiana)MenaraFlowering plantDanum Valley Conservation Area, Sabah, Malaysia on Borneo islandSoutheast Asia Believed to be tallest tree in Asia until 2023 discovery of cypress in Tibet.Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)ConiferSequoia National Park, California, United StatesWestern North AmericaMountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans)CenturionFlowering plantArve Valley, TasmaniaSoutheastern AustraliaReached 100.5 m (329.7 ft) in 2018, but lost 4 metres of height due to a fire in 2019, and now ranks 7th as tallest living tree.Southern blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus) Neeminah Loggerale Meena, or Mother and Daughter.Flowering plantTasmaniaSoutheastern AustraliaManna gum (Eucalyptus viminalis)White KnightFlowering plantEvercreech Forest Reserve, TasmaniaSoutheastern AustraliaNoble fir (Abies procera) Goat Marsh GiantConiferGoat Marsh Research Natural Area, Washington, United StatesWestern North AmericaDinizia excelsa Flowering plantNear the boundary of Amapá and Pará states, Brazil.Central-northeastern South AmericaBrown top stringbark (Eucalyptus obliqua)Princess PicabellaFlowering plantTasmaniaSoutheastern AustraliaAlpine ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis)Flowering plantTasmaniaSoutheastern AustraliaMengaris (Koompassia excelsa)Pontiankak Putih CantikFlowering plantTawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on BorneoSoutheast AsiaMountain grey gum (Eucalyptus cypellocarpa)Flowering plantVictoriaSoutheastern AustraliaKarri (Eucalyptus diversicolor)85.00278.9Stewart KarriFlowering PlantWestern AustraliaSouthwestern Australia(24)Shorea argentifoliaFlowering plantGaharu ridge of Tawau Hills National Park, Sabah on BorneoSoutheast AsiaShorea superbaFlowering plantGergassi Ridge of Tawau Hills National Park, Sabah on BorneoSoutheast AsiaShining gum (Eucalyptus nitens)Flowering plantO'Shannassy Catchment, VictoriaSoutheastern AustraliaTaiwania (Taiwania cryptomerioides)大安溪倚天劍 (Heaven Sword)ConiferNorth-central Taiwan East AsiaSugar pine (Pinus lambertiana)Conifernear Yosemite National Park, California, United States.Western North AmericaAbies chensiensis var. salouenensisConiferZayü County, Tibet Autonomous Region, ChinaEast AsiaWestern hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)ConiferPrairie Creek Redwoods State Park, California, United States.Western North AmericaHopea nutansFlowering plantGaharu ridge of Tawau Hills National Park, Sabah on BorneoSoutheast AsiaShorea johorensisFlowering plantCoco-Park boundary of Tawau Hills National Park, Sabah on BorneoSoutheast AsiaShorea smithianaFlowering plantCoco-Park boundary of Tawau Hills National Park, Sabah on BorneoSoutheast AsiaPonderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)PhalanxConiferin Myers Creek drainage of Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon, United StatesWestern North AmericaEntandrophragma excelsumFlowering plantat Kilimanjaro, TanzaniaEastern AfricaSydney blue gum (Eucalyptus saligna)Flowering plantWoodbush State Forest, Limpopo, South Africa. The world's tallest planted tree.Southern Africa (non native), but endemic to eastern Australia)Grand fir (Abies grandis)ConiferGlacier Peak Wilderness, Washington, United States.Western North AmericaShorea gibbosaFlowering plantRiver Flats of Tawau Hills National Park, Sabah on BorneoSoutheast AsiaLawson's cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)ConiferIn Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, California, United StatesWestern North America

Maximum limits of tree height Two main opposing forces affect a tree's height; one pushes it upward while the other holds it down. By analyzing the interplay between these forces in coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), a team of biologists led by George Koch of Northern Arizona University calculated the theoretical maximum tree height or the point at which opposing forces balance out and a tree stops growing. This point lies somewhere between . On the one hand, the researchers found, trees in forests "desire" to grow as tall as possible to overtake neighboring trees and reach stronger sunlight. On the other hand, gravity makes it more and more difficult to haul water upwards from the roots to the canopy as the tree grows, and leaves thus become smaller near the top. They discovered that despite the moistness of the ground far below, the leaves at the treetops struggle to get enough water, so they are effectively living in a constant drought. The difficulty of getting water so far up into the sky is what ultimately constrains growth. Other researchers have developed models of maximum height for Coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) trees that yield similar estimates of , a range that includes the height of the tallest reliably-measured historical (dead) specimen, a tree.

Other claims of superlative height There are many historical and contemporary claims of superlative height for species beyond those listed in the table above. For example, several articles published in 1878 describe an Eucalyptus amygdalina exceeding and others nearing up to , including the Nooksack Giant which was measured using a tape at after being cut down.

The heights of the tallest trees in the world have been the subject of considerable dispute and much exaggeration. Modern verified measurements with laser rangefinders or with tape drop measurements made by tree climbers (such as those carried out by canopy researchers), have shown that some older tree height measurement methods are often unreliable, sometimes producing exaggerations of 5% to 15% or more above the real height.

See also List of individual trees List of oldest trees List of superlative trees List of tallest buildings and structures

References