Sequoia Sempervirens - Statistics

Statistics

Trees over 200 feet (61 m) are common, and many are over 300 feet (91 m). The current tallest tree is Hyperion, measuring at 379.3 feet (115.6 m). The tree was discovered in Redwood National Park during the summer of 2006 by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor, and has been measured as the world's tallest living organism. The previous record holder was the Stratosphere Giant in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park, at 370.18 feet (112.83 m), last measured in 2004 (was 368.57 feet (112.34 m) in Aug 2000 and 369.29 feet (112.56 m) in 2002). Until it fell in March 1991, the "Dyerville Giant" was the record holder. It, too, stood in Humboldt Redwoods State Park; it was 372.05 ft (113.40 m) high and estimated to be 1,600 years old.

Forty-one measured living trees are more than 360 ft (110 m) tall, and 178 are more than 350 ft (107 m) tall. Preliminary LiDAR data indicate hundreds of additional trees are in excess of 347.8 ft (106.0 m), which were previously unknown.

A tree claimed to be 380.12 ft (115.86 m) was cut down in 1914. A tree claimed to be 424.08 ft (129.26 m) was felled in November 1886 by the Elk River Mill and Lumber Co. at the south fork of Elk River in Humboldt County, yielding 79,736 marketable board feet from 21 cuts.

Although coast redwoods are currently the world's tallest trees, the Australian mountain ash and Douglas-fir trees possibly were taller—exceeding 400 feet (120 m)—before the commercial logging of the 19th and 20th centuries. However, fairly solid evidence indicates coast redwoods were the world's largest trees before logging, with specimens measured at over 55,000 cu ft (1,600 m3).

The theoretical maximum potential height of coast redwoods is limited to between 122 and 130 m (400 and 427 ft), due to gravity and the friction between water and the conduits through which it flows.

The largest coast redwood is the "Lost Monarch", with an estimated volume of 42,500 cubic feet (1,203 m3); it is 320 ft (98 m) tall, with a diameter of 26 ft (7.9 m) at breast high. It is located in the Grove of Titans. Among current living trees, only six known giant sequoias are larger; these are shorter, but have thicker trunks overall, giving the largest giant sequoia, General Sherman, a volume of 1,487 m3 (52,513 cu ft), making it the world's largest known tree. A redwood cut down in 1926 had a claimed volume of 1,794 m3 (63,355 cu ft), but this was not verified.

About 50 albino redwoods (mutant individuals that cannot manufacture chlorophyll) are known to exist, reaching heights of up to 20 m (66 ft). These trees survive as parasites, obtaining food by grafting their root systems with those of normal trees, an ability unique to redwoods. While similar mutations occur sporadically in other conifers, no cases are known of such individuals surviving to maturity in any other conifer species.