Recently, scientific researchers recorded a 76.8-meter-high Bhutan pine tree in Metuo County, Tibet, which refreshed the previous record of the 72-meter bald fir tree king located in Gaoligong Mountain, Yunnan, which is the tallest tree known Chinese mainland, becoming a veritable new "tree king".
Chinese mainland the new tree king "Sindab".
However, compared with the world's tallest tree, the 115.6-meter-tall North American sequoia "Hyperion", it is still nearly 40 meters behind in height.
The "Hyperion God" is much taller than the surrounding trees. Image from the web
The tallest tree Chinese mainland
In April 2022, entrusted by the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Metuo County, the research group of Lv Zhi and Guo Qinghua of Peking University formed a joint investigation team with Xizijiang Ecological Conservation Center, Shanshui Nature Conservation Center and Beijing Digital Green Soil Technology Co., Ltd. to investigate Bhutan pine in Metuo.
Using a combination of drones and backpack lidar, the team obtained 3D point cloud models of 11 giant trees with potential heights taller than 70 meters, and then accurately measured the height of these giant trees.
After 10 days of field investigation, data collection and processing work, the giant tree of Bhutanese Pine with a height of 76.8 meters was finally discovered, which set a new record for the tallest tree in the Chinese mainland.
Former tree king: 72 meters high bald fir in Gaoligong Mountain, Yunnan. Image by Ke Xuanhui and Wang Yaling
In this survey, the research team found a total of 8 giant trees with a height of more than 70 meters in Green Village, Beibeng Township, with a height of 70.2 meters to 76.8 meters, which is the area with the largest distribution of giant trees found by accurate measurement in the Chinese mainland, which fully reflects the authenticity of the forest ecosystem in the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon area.
The team recommended that the tallest Bhutanese pine tree be named "Sindab", which means "sacred tree" in the local Memba language. According to Li Cheng, head of the Xizijiang Ecological Conservation Center, on the "Sindab" tree, a variety of epiphytic protected plants such as arthropod stone peach, ear lip orchid, eye spotted shellfish orchid, creeping stem curl orchid, ink bilberry and other epiphytic protected plants were found, which further confirmed that the Metuo and Brahmaputra River Grand Canyon area where "Sindabu" is located has extremely high conservation value and cultural significance.
The tallest tree in the world
Once upon a time, one of the tallest trees in the world with documented information was the almond eucalyptus, which was found at 132.6 meters high and was found on the Watt River in Victoria, Australia in 1871. This height was measured by a forester with a tape measure, so it is highly controversial and not recognized by the scientific community.
The other was an almond eucalyptus that had been cut down in 1881 and was confirmed to be 114.3 meters high after measurements using a ruler. This height is the tallest almond eucalyptus recorded in scientific data, but has been cut down.
The tallest surviving eucalyptus, the almond eucalyptus, grows on the island of Tasmania at a height of 100.5 metres, which is far lower than the various versions of the ultra-tall almond eucalyptus in history and casts doubt on the authenticity of historical data.
Almond eucalyptus grown in Australia. Image from the web
Until August 2006, American researchers found a 115.6-meter-high North American redwood tree with a trunk diameter of 4.8 meters in California's Redwood Forest National Park, and named it "Hyperion", which means time-traveler, one of the twelve titans in Greek mythology.
How many years does it take to grow to 115.6 meters high? Scientists estimate that the age of the "Hyperion God" is between 600 and 800 years old. That is to say, at the latest when the Ming Dynasty was established, this tree had already grown on the earth.
The "Hyperion God" surpasses the Statue of Liberty and Big Ben. Image from the web
Today, in order to protect the "Hyperion God" from being disturbed by tourists and avoid disturbing the surrounding environment, the researchers did not disclose the specific location of this large tree. If you want to catch a glimpse of a 100-meter giant tree, head to Humboldt Redwoods State Park, a 105-meter-tall North American redwood called founders Tree.
Photos and location of the "Founders Tree". Image from the web
In addition, the world's tallest known anthonym, a yellow tree that grows in the Dannong Valley of Borneo, is 100.8 meters taller than the 30-story building.
Why do trees grow so tall?
Trees are much taller and longer-lived than herbaceous plants because there is a layer of vibrant meristem between the bark and the wood on the inside— the formation layer. The cells of the forming layer are constantly dividing and meristems, producing lignin, which is called secondary growth, so that the trees continue to grow taller and thicker, obtaining a huge body. However, such secondary growth requires a lot of sunlight, moisture, and the right temperature.
This is an 88-metre-high tree in Tawau National Park in Sabah, Malaysia, which was once considered the tallest tree in the tropics. But this record was recently broken by another 100.8-metre-tall Huang Shanluo shuang in Sabah. Image from Xin Zhong
In our urban garden landscape, trees are also used in large quantities, but the height is generally about 10 meters, such as national locust, camphor, luan tree, white ash, french tree and so on. Occasionally some street trees and background trees can reach about 20 meters, such as poplars and fir trees. But they are almost not more than 50 meters, why can these trees grow to seventy or eighty meters or even hundreds of meters?
The first factor that limits tree height is water. Leaves located at high altitudes need water to sustain life, and the premise of sending water to high places is to provide sufficient water in the environment. Therefore, the vegetation in arid and semi-arid climate zones is mostly shrub herb, and there are almost no tall trees.
Another limiting factor is temperature, low temperatures can destroy the active meristem of trees, and ice also makes it impossible for leaves located high up to obtain water, so although trees living in cold temperate taiga forests have various ways to adapt to low temperatures, most of them do not exceed 20 meters.
Also, for tall trees, human activity is an obvious factor. Historically, human economic activities, such as building buildings and charcoal for heating, consumed a lot of wood, and in the area around cities where human activities were frequent, it was difficult for a giant tree to be preserved intact.
Stout North American sequoia. Image from the web
So, if we're looking for the tallest tree in China, we're going to the sparsely populated southwest, to the tropics and subtropics, to the Himalayas, to the Hengduan Mountains, which block the abundant warm and humid airflow from the Indian Ocean and form a local abundance of precipitation. If you're looking for the tallest tree in the world, head to tropical and subtropical regions such as Borneo, the Amazon, Madagascar, and the west coast of North America. Tall trees are bred and preserved here, and it is also the "base camp" for biodiversity restoration.
You also know which famous tall trees, welcome to leave a message.
Source: China Flower News