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Deepest crown on a tree

Deepest crown on a tree
Who
Hyperion, Coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens
What
90.9 metre(s)
Where
United States
When
26 January 2022

On 25 August 2006, Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor (both USA) discovered a specimen of Sequoia sempervirens in Redwood National Park in California, USA. Nicknamed Hyperion, the coast redwood has the distinction of having the world’s deepest crown (from the top of the tree to where the foliage begins), at 90.9 m (298 ft 2.7 in).

Hyperion is also the tallest living tree. By climbing and with direct tape-drop, Atkins and Taylor calculated the 2006 height to be 115.55 m (379 ft 1.2 in), which was the average between the low and high sides of the tree as it grows on a slope. By 2019, the height had grown to 116.07 m (380 ft 9.7 in). The tree has a diameter of 4.94 m (16 ft 2.5 in) and an estimated aboveground dry mass of 209 metric tonnes (230 US tons). Hyperion's precise location is kept a closely guarded secret to try and protect it.

Hyperion is estimated to be between 600 and 800 years old.

Remarkably, Hyperion is situated on a hillside (not alluvial flat), 96% of the surrounding area of which has been logged of its original coast redwood growth.

Outside of its native range, the tallest planted Sequoia in the world is in Rotorua, New Zealand, as part of the Redwood Memorial Grove in Whakarewarewa Forest Park. Beginning in 2009, several trees were recorded over 68 m (223 ft), with the tallest currently known at 73.4 m (240 ft 9.8 in) as of 2017.

As of 12 October 2020, the tallest-known living trees on each continent (excluding the treeless Antarctica) are:

  1. North AmericaSequoia sempervirensCoast redwood116.07 (2019) Redwood National Park, California, USA
  2. OceaniaEucalyptus regnansMountain ash99.82 (2014) Near Tahune Airwalk, Geeveston, Tasmania, Australia
  3. AsiaShorea faguetianaYellow meranti98.53 (2019) Danum Valley Conservation Area, Sabah, Malaysia
  4. South AmericaDinizia excelseaRed angelim88.50 (2019) Rio Jari, Inipuku, Para, Brazil
  5. AfricaEntandrophragma excelsumMuyovu81.50 (2016) Gorge south of Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania, South Africa
  6. EuropeEucalyptus diversicolorKarri72.90 (2015) Palace Hotel of Bussaco, Luso, Portugal