{{Short description|4th tallest known living tree}} {{Infobox tree | name = Stratosphere Giant | image = Stratosphere_Giant.jpg | image_size = 250px | image_caption = NOTE: This map is not the exact location of the tree, that information is not publicly available. | species = Coast redwood | binomial = ''Sequoia sempervirens'' | height = {{Convert|113.61|m|ft|abbr=on}} }}
The '''Stratosphere Giant''' was once considered the tallest tree in the world.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/archive/2006/09/07/TREE.TMP | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221030834/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/archive/2006/09/07/TREE.TMP | url-status=dead | archive-date=December 21, 2007 | work=The San Francisco Chronicle | title=Eureka: New tallest living thing discovered / HYPERION: At 378.1 feet, new champion in Redwood National Park on North Coast towers 8 feet above the Stratosphere Giant | first=Glen | last=Martin | date=September 6, 2006}}</ref> It was discovered in July 2000 growing along Bull Creek in Humboldt Redwoods State Park by Chris Atkins, measuring 112.34 meters (368.6 ft) tall.<ref name="tfia">{{cite magazine | title = Tall for its age - Climbing a record breaking redwood | magazine = The New Yorker | author = Preston, Richard | date = October 9, 2006 | url = http://www.savetheredwoods.org/league/pdf/srl_newyorker.pdf | accessdate = March 26, 2010 }}</ref> The discovery was confirmed and made public in 2004, displacing the Mendocino Tree, another coast redwood, from the record books.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/redwood-near-ukiah-loses-title-after-santa-rosa-man-finds-stratosphere-gian/|title=Redwood near Ukiah loses title after Santa Rosa man finds Stratosphere Giant|first=Mike|last=Geniella|newspaper=The Press Democrat|date=December 10, 2005|access-date=2023-01-15}}</ref> The tree has continued to grow and measured 113.11 m (371.1 ft) in 2010 and 113.61 m (372.7 ft) in 2013.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.mdvaden.com/redwood_stratosphere.shtml#:~:text=Stratosphere%20Giant%20was%20listed%20as,which%20is%204.5%27%20above%20grade | title=Stratosphere Giant Redwood in Rockefeller Forest. Sequoia sempervirens }}</ref> It is a specimen of the species ''Sequoia sempervirens'', the Coast Redwood. The tree features three prominent burls on the southwestern side of its trunk and is surrounded by a large number of trees of almost equal size.{{cn|date=January 2022}} In an effort to avoid damage to the tree's shallow roots by tourism, its exact location was never disclosed to the public.
On August 25, 2006, a taller redwood tree, named Hyperion, in the Redwood National Park was discovered by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor, and is considered the tallest tree (and living thing), measuring 115.55 m (379.1 ft). This has been confirmed using a tape measurement. Two other trees in this forest were found to be taller than Stratosphere Giant as well,<ref name="tfia"/> though Stratosphere Giant is now believed to have grown taller than one of them.<ref>https://www.natureworldnews.com/amp/articles/56778/20230602/meet-hyperion-tallest-tree-world-leafy-giants-came-close.htm</ref>
==See also== *Sequoia—Statistics section *Orders of magnitude (length) *List of individual trees
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.conifers.org/cu/se/index.htm Gymnosperm Database] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060824083158/http://www.ictinternational.com.au/TallTreesGallery.htm Photo gallery] with meteorology and plant physiology sensors installed
Category:Individual coast redwood trees Category:Natural history of Humboldt County, California Category:Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
{{Tree-stub}} {{HumboldtCountyCA-geo-stub}}