The biggest tree in the world. The largest tree in the world: name and photo. How tall can a tree be

Incredible facts

If you watched the movie Avatar, then you were probably impressed by the forests of Pandora. But to see the most fantastic trees, you don't have to go on an intergalactic journey.

Trees are part of our lives, providing us with oxygen, food, homes, warmth and building materials. There are approximately 100,000 different species of trees, including a quarter of all living plant species on Earth.

Among the billions of trees around the world, there are completely unique and amazing representatives.

1. Giant sequoia "General Sherman"

Giant sequoias that grow in Sierra Nevada in California they are considered the largest trees in terms of volume. The largest tree is " General Sherman" V Sequoia National Park, the height of which reaches 83 m, the volume is about 1,486 cubic meters. m, and weighs more than 6000 tons. The tree is believed to be somewhere between 2,300 and 2,700 years old, and each year the tree grows as much wood as a typical 18-foot tree. It is a true natural masterpiece and greatest living organism on earth.

2. Aspen poplar: Pando

Pando or Trembling Giant, located in Utah, USA, is an amazing massive colony of aspen trees spread across 100 acres of Utah. Almost all the trees in this colony are genetically identical, that is, they are clones of each other. Every tree in this area comes from a single organism, being part of a giant underground root system.

Pando consists of 47,000 trunks, and its collective weight is 6,600 tons, making it the heaviest organism in the world. Although average age individual trunks are about 130 years old, the entire body is already about 80,000 years.

3. Taxodium mexicanis: Tule tree

The Thule tree is a particularly large tree of the species Taxodium mexicanis which is located near the city Oaxaca in Mexico. By this tree largest trunk girth(58 m) and a trunk diameter of 11.5 m. It is said that Thule tree so thick that you don’t hug it, but it hugs you.

The tree is believed to be about 2000 years old. For a time, detractors claimed that there were actually three trees camouflaging there, but careful DNA analysis confirmed that it was, in fact, one beautiful tree.

In 1994, the tree became endangered: the leaves had turned a sickly yellow color and there were dead branches everywhere. The tree was dying. When the “healers” of the trees were called, it turned out that the problem that caused the Tule tree to suffer was simple thirst and it needed to be treated with water. Naturally, after careful water procedures the tree came to life.

4. Tree of Life

The tree of Life in Bahrain it is the loneliest tree in the world. The mesquite tree is located on the very high point barren desert of Bahrain, hundreds of kilometers from other natural trees. It is believed that its roots extend several tens of meters to aquifers. The exact age of the tree is unknown, but it is believed to be over 400 years old.

However, the secret Tree of life is not its size, age or shape, although it is quite large and very beautiful. The most amazing thing is that it stands alone in a barren desert on the highest point of Bahrain, in an area that has absolutely no water. In a place where it seemed nothing could survive, this tree seems to radiate life itself. People come here in droves because local residents They believe that the tree stands on the site of the Garden of Eden.

5. Wollemia

Despite its uniqueness and beauty, interesting qualities Wollemia hidden not in appearance, but in its history.

Wollemia, growing in Australia, is a real living dinosaur. Oldest tree fossil Wollemia dates back to 200 million years ago. When, in 1994, scientists suddenly discovered living tree Wollemia, they were simply dumbfounded.

The exact location of these coniferous trees was carefully hidden in order to protect those remaining trees, of which there are less than 100 left in the wild. To save these trees from extinction, a program was launched in 2006 that allowed the general public to purchase seedlings Wollemia and now they can be seen in various botanical gardens.

6. Pirangi Cashew Tree

This famous tree, located near the city of Natal in Brazil, is a 177-year-old cashew tree that covers almost 2 hectares of land. It was planted in 1888 by a fisherman who did not know that the tree had a genetic mutation that allowed it to take up so much space. Unlike an ordinary cashew tree, when the branches of the tree Pirangi touch the ground, it takes root and continues to grow.

Today this tree serves as a tourist attraction. When you approach this largest cashew tree in the world, you will feel like you are entering a forest. In fact, this is all one tree, the size of which reaches 8400 square meters. m. Tree 80 times larger than the average cashew tree and covers an area larger than a football field, bearing about 80,000 fruits per year.

7. Tenere Tree

The Ténéré tree is mentioned in this list because it no longer exists. A lone acacia tree growing in the Sahara desert of Niger in Africa, which was more than 300 years old, was the only tree within a radius of about 400 km. It was the only tree that remained from a huge forest that was swallowed up by the merciless desert. When the scientists dug a hole next to the tree, they discovered that its roots went down to a depth of 36 m below the groundwater level.

In 1973, the Tenere tree was hit by a drunk truck driver, and today a metal monument was built on the site in honor of Lone Tree Tenere.

8. Banyan: Mahabodhi Tree

The banyan tree is named after the banyan trees or Hindu traders who sold their goods sitting under this tree. Even if you have never heard of the banyan tree, you will probably recognize it. The shape of this giant tree cannot be confused with anything: a majestic dome with aerial roots that descend from the branches to the ground.

One of the most famous types of banyan tree is called ficus sacred or bo tree is Mahabodhi tree V Anuradhapura, in Sri Lanka. The tree is said to have been grown from a cutting from a real tree, under which Buddha achieved enlightenment in the 6th century BC

Having been planted in 288 BC, it is the oldest tree in the world, planted by a man with exact date landings.

9. Baobab

Madagascar is considered the birthplace of the baobab; it is also common in Africa and Australia. Baobab trees are the oldest forms of life on mainland Africa and many of those that still stand today have been growing since Roman times.

Amazing baobab or " monkey breadfruit" can grow up to 30 m in height and 11 m in width. They remain without leaves for most of the year . Characteristic feature Baobab is their pot-bellied trunk, which serves as a water storage facility. baobab tree can hold up to 120,000 liters of water to survive severe drought conditions. Some trunks are so large that people live inside the tree.

One of the most beautiful clusters of baobabs of the species Adansonia Grandidier located on Baobab Avenue in Morondava in Madagascar. Some baobabs take on the shape of a bottle, a skull, and even a teapot.

10. Dragon Tree

Dragon's Tree Icod de los Vinos in Tenerife, one of Canary Islands, is unique representative. It is believed to be between 650 and 1,500 years old, but experts find it difficult to draw exact conclusions as it does not have one trunk. He's more likely consists of many small trunks, which hold on to each other as they grow upward.

It has a dense canopy of leaves and gets its name from the resin that is released when its bark and leaves are cut. Residents believe that this is dried dragon blood and have been using it to treat various ailments since ancient times.

Looking at the environment around us, at the beauty that nature gives, at the trees that seem huge to us, you involuntarily ask the question: how old are the trees that we meet every day on our way to work? But that tree, which seems to be the largest among all, is just a small bush compared to the largest tree in the world. Not everyone has seen and knows that one tree that has incredible dimensions. So what's the best a big tree in the world?

Some historical facts

The name of the giant and only living creature of this size is sequoiadendron. Sequoia is also called sequoia for a reason. By appearance this tree resembles a mammoth with its huge size, and the hanging branches look like its tusks. For the first time in history, mention of sequoia appeared in 1853. Most often, these trees were found in western California, on the slope of the Sierra Nevada. The giant sequoiadendron amazed the people of the Old World, and representatives of this plant were given the names of great people. Liar Lindley, the first known botanist, was the first to describe the sequoia and named it after the English Duke of Wellington, who became a hero at the Battle of Waterloo. The Americans, having discovered another representative of the sequoia family, gave him the name George Washington in honor of the first president of the United States of America. After which, in 1939, the family giant trees got its name - sequoiadendron, which is used to this day.

Giant of our time

The largest tree in the world, the sequoiadendron, is currently located in the place where it was first discovered: in California. Now a national park with the same name “Sequoia” has been created there on the mountain peaks of the Sierra Nevada. The largest tree in the world, whose name is General Sherman, is named after the commander and politician William Tecumseh Sherman. He gained his fame during the Civil War of 1861-1865. He was called a talented general, as he possessed tactics of attacking the enemy, which was beyond the control of anyone. The general is also notorious for his tactics called “scorched earth.”

Tree dimensions

The height of the largest tree in the world is more than eighty-three meters. The circumference of the trunk is twenty-four meters, and the crown is more than thirty-three.

The forest in which this giant grows is called the Giant Forest. In addition, other sequoias grow there, but much smaller in size. This forest was first discovered by explorer John Muir in the nineteenth century. It was he who gave it this name. Part of the national park where they grow huge trees, that’s what it’s called - Giant forest to this day.

Tourists who come to California specifically to see the largest tree in the world describe its bark as a red-orange stone, the top of which is impossible to see. When photographed next to the General Sherman tree, people look like tiny ants.

General Sherman's age

The question regarding the age of the legendary plant was controversial until recently. For a long time it was believed that the largest tree in the world is more than three thousand years old. But recently, experts, after conducting a series of studies, officially stated that the age of the legendary sequoiadendron is two and a half thousand years. It’s scary to imagine what this mighty tree could endure in order to grow to such stunning sizes. It is very difficult for a tree of this size to grow, and such giants die mainly not from old age, but because of the size of the branches, which are difficult for them to hold. The General Sherman tree also suffered losses in 2006. The largest and heaviest branch fell off, the diameter of which was two meters and the length was over thirty meters. When the branch fell, the fence and the road leading to the living attraction were destroyed. But even after such a loss, General Sherman’s tree did not cease to be considered the largest tree in the world.

In terms of size, General Sherman is the largest plant, but surprisingly not the oldest. The oldest tree is California pine, which was four and a half thousand years old. But unfortunately, it has not survived to this day, since it was cut down by unknown people in 1965. In the same year, trees were cut down that were as old as three thousand years. There is an opinion that there are still centenarians left on Earth, whose age is about five thousand years.

Tree growth

Even though the giant sequoiadendron is already huge, it continues to grow. Once a year, specialists take measurements, and it can be noted that the tree grows by one and a half centimeters every year.

In general, mature trees of the sequoiadendron species reach a height of one hundred meters, and a trunk diameter of up to twelve meters.

National Park and his workers made sure that all people could see the legendary giant and take a photo of the largest tree in the world. A special road has been built for people with disabilities, so they can see the tree as closely as possible.

also in national park There is a tunnel tree in California that attracts a lot of attention from tourists. This tunnel is made from a redwood tree that fell in 1937. Since there was no way to move or remove the tree, employees were forced to create a tunnel leading into the park, since the fallen tree lay right at the entrance to the living attractions area.

In addition, the park has the peak of Moro Rock, which offers an incredible view of the entire “forest of giants.”

But unfortunately, all the giants and long-livers of the national park may disappear from the face of the Earth. This threat is related to the climate in California. The drought, which has been going on for several years, threatens all plants, including the largest tree in the world - the sequoiadendron. No matter how powerful the redwood trees are, they cannot resist fires. Also, due to the dryness, new trees do not have the opportunity to appear. The park staff are trying in every way to maintain the beneficial life of the legendary plants.

This is a list of the 10 largest trees in the world. The exact location of the 10 tallest trees is kept secret, so photographs of these trees are almost impossible to find. The trees are not guarded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but the information is only classified so that the flow of tourists does not destroy the infrastructure and prevent the trees from growing further.

10. Mendocino tree - 112.20 m, USA

Species: Sequoia sempervirens.
Location: Montgomery Woods, USA.
Diameter: 4.19 m.

Between December 1996 and August 2000 it was the most tall tree in the world. It was discovered in the city of Montgomery Woods and named the Mendocino Tree. The tree is one of dozens of similar tall trees in the grove and was never specifically declared the largest for protection purposes. Previously highly publicized candidates for the tallest tree in the world have suffered greatly due to numerous tourists.

9. Paradox - 112.56 m, USA

Species: Sequoia sempervirens.
Diameter: 3.90 m.

8. Rockefeller - 112.60 m, USA

Species: Sequoia sempervirens.
Location: Humboldt, California, USA.
Diameter: The exact diameter is unknown.

7. Lauralin - 112.62 m

Species: Sequoia sempervirens.
Location: Humboldt, South Fork Eel River, California, USA.
Diameter: 4.54 m.

Species: Sequoia sempervirens.
Location: Redwoods, California, USA.
Diameter: 4.33 m.

Species: Sequoia sempervirens.
Location: Redwood Creek, California, USA.
Diameter: 4.39 m.

The fifth tallest tree in the world is located in Redwood Creek. Since 1994, after this tree was found, it became the tallest tree in the world until 1995.

Species: Sequoia sempervirens.
Location: Humboldt, Rockefeller Forest, California, USA.
Diameter: 5.18 m.

The stratosphere giant was once the tallest tree in the world. It was opened in July 2000 in Humboldt National Park. When first measured in 2000, the height of the tree was 112.34 meters, and it continues to grow. The height of 113.11 m was recorded in 2010. The tree is surrounded large quantity trees are almost the same size. To avoid damage from tourism, the exact location of the tree has not been revealed to the public.

Species: Sequoia sempervirens.
Diameter: 3.78 m.

Species: Sequoia sempervirens.
Location: Redwoods, tributary of Redwood Creek, California, USA.
Diameter: 4.96 m.

Helios is the tallest tree in the world from June 1, 2006 to August 25, 2006. The tree lost its title after foresters found Hyperion on the other side of a Redwood Creek tributary.

Photo shows Richard Preston and his daughter climbing a tree in Humboldt Park.

Species: Sequoia sempervirens.
Location: Redwoods, tributary of Redwood Creek, California, USA.
Diameter: 4.84 m.

Hyperion was discovered on August 25, 2006 by naturalists Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor. The tree was measured to be 115.55 meters tall. The tree was found in a remote area of ​​Redwood National and State Parks, acquired in 1978. The exact location of the tree has not been made public out of fear that tourist traffic could disrupt the tree's ecosystem of life. The area of ​​the tree is estimated at 502 square meters, and its approximate age is 700-800 years.

The largest tree grows in the state of California in the United States of America. Globe. The sequoia tree grows in the Sequoia Park of the same name, the total area of ​​which is one thousand six hundred thirty-five square meters. There are many giant sequoias growing in the park. The plants were named after the Indian chief of the tribe, whose name was Sequoia. The park is interesting not only because it contains giant sequoias, but also because of its caves. In total there are two hundred and fifty caves. But all of them are closed to tourists. Tourists will be able to visit only one Crystal cave - the second largest. The largest cave in the park reaches a length of up to thirty-two kilometers. The park is famous for its attractive mountain scenery, alpine meadows and beautiful waterfalls. Another unique feature of this park is a small tunnel that is cut through a giant sequoia tree that has fallen onto the road.

Sequoias reach a height of up to one hundred meters and a diameter of up to ten meters. Besides the fact that these trees are famous large sizes they are also known for being long-lived. Their average lifespan is about four thousand years. The only plants to which they are inferior in lifespan are bristlecone pines growing in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The unique properties of sequoia do not end there, as they are one of the few plants adapted to fires.

The most popular tree in the park is giant sequoia General Sherman. It was named in honor of the brave General Sherman who bravely fought the enemies in Civil War. This name was given to the tree on the initiative of a naturalist who served as a lieutenant during the war under the command of Sherman. You can find sequoia in the Forest of Giants. The popularity of the sequoia is due to the fact that it bears the title of the largest coniferous tree in the whole world. It is worth noting that the tree is the largest not in height, but in terms of wood volume. The height of the sequoia is eighty-one meters, the diameter at the base is thirty-two meters, the crown span is forty meters. The weight of the barrel is one ton, one hundred and twenty-one kilograms, total weight wood - one ton nine hundred ten kilograms. For a long time the tree was believed to be about three thousand years old. But after research, it was found that the age of the plant is exactly two thousand years. This means that General Sherman is middle aged. In addition, there are four more large sequoias in the park, which in the future can lay claim to the title of the largest.

The title of the largest tree on earth General Sherman received after the Crannell Creek Giant was cut down. The tree grew in the suburbs of Trinidad, and was cut down in the mid-forties of the last century. The volume of the felled tree is twenty-five percent greater than the volume of the General Sherman. Scientists conducted comparative analysis, which established that General Sherman is the greatest coniferous tree in the world. In 2006, the largest branch, about eleven meters long and two meters in diameter, fell from a tree. When it fell, the branch left a dent in the path and damaged the fence. Fortunately, there were no people near the tree during the incident and no one was injured. According to scientists, this did not happen because poor condition tree, and as a consequence of the plant’s protective reaction to unfavorable weather. This incident did not deprive General Sherman of the title of the largest tree in the world. Every year the diameter of the tree increases by one and a half centimeters and adds wood, which is enough to build a six-room house. Interestingly, such a tree produces about one hundred and twenty kilograms of oxygen per year.

Magnificent and unique. There are truly incredible specimens that amaze with their age, size, extraordinary appearance and legendary fate. Choose just ten of the most amazing trees the world is very difficult, but, unfortunately, we are limited to the scope of this article. Among the plants remained silent witnesses to global tragedies, the rise and fall of entire civilizations, wars, and climate change. These wise, huge creatures - the largest and oldest trees - have been reaching out to the sun for thousands of years and quietly contemplating the restless world around them.

Giant trees can be found on almost all continents. They are impressive and amaze with their size. Being next to someone like this unusual plant- a real miracle, reminding people how small their role is compared to the huge world.

Pando Tree

Pando, nicknamed the Trembling Giant, amazes the imagination with its area, age and weight... Indeed, this is the largest tree in the world! Pando Grove is a colossal forest of fifty thousand aspen poplar trunks, which, surprisingly, is one plant with a single root system. All trees are parts of a giant living organism that weighs 6,600 tons and covers an area of ​​43 hectares. The age of the Giant Pando is estimated by researchers at 80 thousand years. This unique forest tree grows in the USA, near the Colorado Plateau, Utah.

Sequoia General Sherman

The General Sherman Sequoia is the largest free-standing tree in the world by volume and is 2,000 years old. The girth of the trunk of the ancient giant is almost 25 meters, and the crown is 33 meters. This sequoia has already reached almost 85 meters in height, and it is still growing. One can only guess what it will be like in, say, a thousand years. The giant sequoia grows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, USA.

Thule tree

Tule is the largest tree in the world by trunk girth. The curiosity is located in the immediate vicinity of the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. Circle giant plant- 58 meters at the foot, and age - from one and a half to six thousand years. It was once believed that there were three trees, but recent DNA analysis has refuted this assumption.

Hyperion

In the Redwoods region (USA, California), the largest tree in the world grows in height, which already reaches 115 meters. They named him Hyperion. The location of the giant is carefully hidden. Scientists fear that frequent visits could destroy the surrounding ecosystem and damage the health of the plant, which is conservatively estimated to be 800 years old.

Great Banyan

The Great Banyan is a tree consisting of many interlacing trunks and has the largest crown in the world (its circumference is approximately 350 meters). It grows in India, the city of Howrah. The Great Banyan Tree is estimated to be 250 years old. This plant of the species Ficus benghalensis (Ficus Bengal) is more reminiscent of a small grove, and all because of the huge number of roots protruding from the ground and clones that have separated from the main trunk.

Methuselah

In the name biblical prophet They named one very ancient tree of the species long-lived pine, according to other sources - intermountain spinosa. The long-lived plant is almost 5 thousand years old. Outwardly, it is practically unremarkable, but scientists believe that it is the oldest tree in the world. To protect the rarity from vandals, it was necessary to hide its exact location. It is only known that this national forest Inyo, USA, California.

Hundred Horse Chestnut

The oldest chestnut tree that grows on the slope of Etna is about 3 thousand years old. Among its “relatives” it is considered the largest. This plant is even associated with a beautiful legend about Giovanna of Aragon, Queen of Naples, who, together with a hundred knights and their war horses guarding her, was able to wait out the rain under the spreading thick crown.

Dragon Tree

On the island of Tenerife there is a Dragon Tree that is unique in appearance. Scientists still cannot accurately determine its age, because this miracle of nature does not have a trunk as such. The tree is held together by the finest interweaving of many stems, which firmly cling to each other and form something like a column. Above this makeshift trunk there is a dense canopy of leaves. The plant secretes a resinous sap when its leaves and bark are cut, which locals call dragon's blood. The tree is considered healing and is actively used in folk medicine.

Pirangi tree

In the vicinity of the city of Natal (Brazil) you can find unusual tree cashew, which, as a result of a long-standing mutation, over 127 years of life has grown by as much as 2 hectares. As soon as a branch that bends to the ground touches the soil, it takes root and turns into another trunk of this single forest. Farmers claim that this magnificent tree bears more than 80 thousand fruits annually.

The tree of Life

In the very center of the Bahrain desert, in the middle of the hot sands without any signs of vegetation, for the past 400 years there has been a lonely acacia tree, which is called the Tree of Life. No one can say for sure how this plant can exist for several centuries without visible sources of life-giving moisture and normal soil. Some claim that this acacia comes from the mythical Eden and has special powers.

All of the largest trees in the world listed in our article deserve to be included in the Guinness Book of Records. Each of them has something to brag about: some amaze with their height, others with their age or wondrous beauty, and still others with their incredible resilience and desire to survive. But they all share one common quality - these giants support in people the ability to be amazed at the wonders of our incomparable planet.