What was the tallest tree ever recorded?

Answer 1

What was the tallest tree ever recorded?

The tallest trees every claimed by foresters and government surveyors would be the Australian Mountain Ash, or Eucalyptus Regnans, which was once abundant in the state of Victoria, Australia before the 20th century.

The tallest specimens have been recorded by government surveyors between the years of 1850 and 1900. Many extreme measurements from 300 to 500 feet high have been independently attributed for this species. These may have been the tallest trees to ever grow on this planet within human existence. However, scientific verification of these measurements have not been possible in modern times, as the vast majority of the old growth forests have been cleared in the last 120 years. The reports stand alone as the only historical evidence for such height. Several of the well publicized claims from 1860-1885 include:

Mr. G. Klein on Black Spur, near Healesville, estimated a mountain Ash at 480 ft tall.

Mr G.W. Robinson, Surveyor, estimated a tree at the foot of Mount Baw-Baw, at 471 feet in height.

Mr William Ferguson, Surveyor, measuring by tape line a fallen tree near Watts river, 435 feet, from roots to broken top. Reporting to Victorian State Forest Assistant Commissioner, Clement Hodgkinson, 1872.

Mr. David Boyle, Surveyor, measuring a fallen Eucalyptus at Dandenong, 390 ft to broken top, in 1862.

Mr. E. B. Heyne measuring a felled tree at Dandenong, 365 ft to 3ft diam broken top.

Mr. J Rollo of Yarragon estimating a tree at 410 ft.

Mr. Pemberton Walcott estimating a Karri Eucalyptus at 400 feet.

Prof. Wilson and Colonel Ellery measuring a felled tree at Mount Sabine, 380 ft long, 21'8" diam.

The Thorpdale tree was estimated by certified surveyor, George Cornthwaite, at 370 feet, in 1880, and was felled in 1881 and measured along the trunk at 375 feet. His initial measurement with triangulation, was 99% correct.

If even half of the surveyors mentioned above, were correct within 10% of the actual tree's height, then one might conclude there is strong historical evidence for trees in excess of 400 feet once existing on the continent of Australia.

The tallest trees ever recorded on the continent of America, are represented by the coastal Redwood, and the coastal Douglas-Fir of the Northwestern region. Both species are thought to have the genetic and environmental capacity to reach 400 feet.

A claimed height of 424 feet has been attributed to a Redwood felled by the Elk River Mill & Lumber Co. in 1886. The tree measured 21 logs in length.

The "Eureka Tree" a Redwood felled in 1914, was measured at 380 feet.

The tallest confirmed Redwood today, is named Hyperion, and last measured 379.1 feet in 2006, near Orick, Cal. It is a healthy tree, perhaps 500-600 years old, and growing at a steady rate; it may reach 390 feet within this century. Other unexplored trees, may yet be taller.

The Douglas Fir is an enormous conifer which grows to its maximal size along the Oregon, Washington, and British Columbian Coastal waters, and mountain valleys west of the Cascade mountains. The tallest trees today, rarely exceed 300 feet, and the tallest living, in Coos Co. Oregon, is 335 feet tall to lowest portion of trunk, and 11 ft 8 inches in diameter at breast height. It is called the Doerner Fir, and has been calculated at over 500 years of age.

The tallest recorded Douglas Firs on record include:

A Douglas Fir from Lynn Valley, N. Vancouver BC, Felled in 1902 by the "Tremblay Brothers" near Argyle Road and Mountain Highway. Called, "The Tallest Tree of Lynn Valley," measured by the proprietor of land, Alfred John Nye at 410 ft along the trunk, and an additional 5 feet of stump. Bark 13.5" thick, base diameter 14'3."

A Douglas Fir tree felled at Kerrisdale, Vancouver, BC in 1896. It was 13'8" in diameter at the base, excluding bark, and its total length was about 400 feet, according to Julius Fromme, director at Hastings Mill where it was processed.

A Douglas Fir near the town of Mineral, Washington was estimated to have once stood 393 feet high according to the measurements of Richard McCardle, a forester from the University of Washington, in 1924.

In 1900, a 380 foot tall Douglas Fir was measured near the Nisqually River in Washington state, after having been felled by loggers. It was measured with a steel tape by Edward Tyson Allen, a trained forester who was stationed in Portland, Oregon.

Answer 2

Redwoods trees in Northern California.