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  • Meet Hyperion!

  • This impressive looking plant currently holds the title ofworld's tallest tree.”

  • Its name, “Hyperion,” meansthe high one”... and that's no joke!

  • Hyperion's top branches tower over all of the trees around it.

  • Its very tippy-top is one hundred fifteen meters above the ground.

  • That's taller than an American football field is long...about twice as tall as the

  • Statue of Liberty in New York City...and about fifteen meters taller than the clock tower

  • in London that houses Big Ben.

  • And it's taken a long time for Hyperion to get so big.

  • Scientists think that it's between 700 and 800 years old!

  • Hyperion belongs to a group of trees called redwoods.

  • Redwoods are pretty picky about where they livethey only grow in a few places around

  • the world.

  • Hyperion's home is somewhere in Northern California, in the Redwood National and State Parks.

  • And I saysomewherebecause, except for a few people, no one knows exactly where

  • Hyperion is!

  • Hyperion was discovered by two people hiking through the park.

  • After some scientists measured the tree and crowned it as the world's tallest, everyone

  • who knew where Hyperion was decided to keep its location a secret.

  • They knew that a lot of people would want to see the world's tallest tree, I mean, who wouldn't?

  • but they also knew that too many people walking around the tree might damage its roots

  • or trunk.

  • So they decided that the only way to make sure the tree stayed safe was to let it stay hidden.

  • Fortunately, there are lots of other redwoods to see all around it ...as well as lots of

  • other really big trees that are related to the redwood.

  • Another kind of humungous tree is the giant sequoia.

  • Both the giant sequoia and the redwood live for a long time...grow to be very tall...and

  • in some cases...get to be very wide.

  • So there must be something special about these trees!

  • Why are they able to grow so large and so tall?

  • And the answer is...kind of another secret, because no one knows for sure!

  • Scientists have some pretty good guesses, though.

  • The first is that these trees are really good at staying healthy.

  • All kinds of trees can get diseases that make them sick...just like you and I can catch

  • a cold, or the flu or something else.

  • Redwoods make a chemical that helps protect them from diseases.

  • This chemical also tastes really bad to animals like insects.

  • So bugs that might normally like to snack on wood or leaves are likely to stay away

  • from redwood trees!

  • The outer covering of the tree, called the bark, is also very thick in redwoods...in

  • some cases up to thirty centimeters thick.

  • That's about the length of a ruler that you might have in school or at home!

  • And the bark is really stringy and tough -- so tough, in fact, that it doesn't burn very easily.

  • So forest fires that damage other kinds of trees probably won't hurt these kinds of

  • trees as much.

  • Another reason that scientists think that redwoods grow so tall is because of where

  • they live.

  • Redwoods need water.

  • Lots of water.

  • So they grow where it's cool and very wet.

  • When it's not raining or snowing where redwoods live, it's usually misty or foggy.

  • If you've ever been outside on a foggy day, you know that the air can feel kind of wet.

  • That's because fog is made of lots of tiny drops of water.

  • Now, redwoods have special leaves called needles.

  • And redwood needles can do something really cool.

  • They can actually take water right out of the fog, so the tree doesn't have to get

  • all of its water from its roots.

  • This way, the tree has two ways to get waterthrough its needles and its roots ...instead

  • of just one.

  • And there's more to growing tall than just getting lots of water.

  • Trees also need food, and they get some of the food they need to grow from the soil.

  • Just like healthy foods like fruits and vegetables give us what we need to grow, the soil in

  • Northern California is kind of like those healthy foodsfull of the things that

  • trees need to grow!

  • But here's something strange about the world's tallest tree:

  • Even though Hyperion has lots of water, thick bark, and can get good things from the soilit

  • isn't growing any taller!

  • Scientists think that the tree stopped growing, because some woodpeckers damaged the top of it.

  • So, who knows?

  • Maybe someday there'll be another tree that takes over the title asWorld's Tallest”...and

  • maybe you'll be the one to find it!

  • We love getting questions here at the Fort!

  • So if you have one...ask a grownup to help you leave a comment down below, or to send

  • us an email to kids@SciShow.com!

  • Thanks and we'll see you next time!

Meet Hyperion!

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