A handful of tree species have evolved to grow taller than any other organism in history. The champions are almost all conifers from cool, wet, temperate forests — places with abundant moisture, deep soils and mild temperatures that let a tree keep growing for centuries or even millennia.
Below are the tallest known individual trees and species, followed by the science of why they can grow so tall and where you can go to stand beneath them.
The tallest trees, ranked
| Tree | Species | Height | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hyperion | Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) | 115.9 m (380 ft) | Redwood National Park, California |
| Centurion | Mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans) | ~100 m (328 ft) | Tasmania, Australia |
| Doerner Fir | Coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) | ~99 m (327 ft) | Oregon, USA |
| Raven’s Tower | Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) | ~96 m (317 ft) | California, USA |
| Unnamed giant | Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) | ~95 m (311 ft) | Sierra Nevada, California |
Coast redwoods: the undisputed champions
Every one of the ten tallest trees on Earth is a coast redwood, growing in a narrow fog belt along the coast of northern California and southern Oregon. The tallest, Hyperion, stands at about 115.9 metres — taller than a 35-storey building. Its exact location is kept secret to protect it from trampling.
Coast redwoods thrive on summer fog, which drips moisture onto their needles and reduces water loss, allowing them to keep growing where other trees would dry out.
Tallest vs. biggest: redwood or sequoia?
It is easy to confuse the two giant trees of California. The coast redwood is the tallest tree, but its close cousin the giant sequoia is the largest by volume. General Sherman, a giant sequoia in Sequoia National Park, is considered the most massive single tree on Earth — not the tallest, but the bulkiest, with a trunk volume of around 1,487 cubic metres.
Why do some trees grow so tall?
There is a physical limit to tree height: a tree has to lift water from its roots all the way to its highest leaves against gravity and friction. Scientists estimate the ceiling is around 122–130 metres. The tallest species push toward this limit by combining cool, moist, frost-light climates, deep stable soils, long lifespans measured in centuries, and protection from the wind in sheltered valleys.
Frequently asked questions
What is the tallest tree in the world?
The tallest known living tree is Hyperion, a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in Redwood National Park, California, measured at about 115.9 metres (380 feet) tall.
What is the difference between a redwood and a giant sequoia?
Coast redwoods are the tallest trees on Earth, while giant sequoias are the largest by trunk volume. Redwoods grow in the coastal fog belt of California and Oregon; giant sequoias grow inland on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada.
How tall can a tree theoretically grow?
Scientists estimate the physical maximum is around 122 to 130 metres, limited by the difficulty of pulling water up to the highest leaves against gravity. The tallest living trees already approach this ceiling.
Which is the tallest tree species outside North America?
The mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans) of Australia is the tallest flowering plant and the tallest tree outside North America, with the record individual — Centurion, in Tasmania — standing close to 100 metres.