Record tree

REDWOOD NATIONAL PARK, Calif. -- Two amateur California naturalists have found what they report is the world's tallest living thing.

It's a redwood in Redwood National Park on the Northern California coast.

The redwood tree, named Hyperion, stands 378.1 feet tall, 8 feet taller than the previous record holder, another coast redwood.The San Francisco Gate reported that the group has found about 135 redwoods that reach higher than 350 feet. The Hyperion was the tallest, followed by Helios, which stands at 376.3 feet, and Icarus, which stands at 371.2 feet, according to the paper.

Officials aren't pinpointing the exact location of the trees, out of concern too many visitors could damage the delicate ecology of the areas.

Researchers plan to climb the giant Hyperion in the coming weeks and drop a tape measure to confirm its exact height. But the paper reported that the tape drops can't be conducted for at least two weeks because of National Park Service restrictions to protect the marbled murrelet, a small seabird that nests in old-growth redwoods.

The acting superintendent of Redwood National Park said it would be nearly impossible for visitors to find the trees because coast redwoods grow together.


Tree records
Tallest living tree: Hyperion (coast redwood), 378.1 feet, Redwood
National Park
Tallest recorded tree: Unnamed eucalyptus, 500-plus feet, recorded in 1872
in Australia
Most massive living tree: General Sherman (giant sequoia), estimated
weight 4 million pounds, Sequoia National Park
Largest tree canopy: A great banyan in Calcutta's Indian Botanical Garden
covers three acres.
Oldest living tree: Methuselah (Bristlecone pine), estimated 4,650 years
old, California's White Mountains