Jess Thomson, Newsweek, 6/22/23; Crystal Q., Dhr. Seven, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Tree as tall as Statue of Liberty discovered in world's deepest canyon |
| Earthbound fairies (bhumi devas) already knew |
The tree was found to stand 335 feet tall, according to a statement from Peking University, 30 feet (10 meters) taller than the 305-foot Statue of Liberty.
According to the statement, the tree is a
Himalayan or Bhutan cypress (
Cupressus torulosa), while other reports in Chinese state media cite the tree as being a
Tibetan cypress (
Cupressus gigantea).
The tree was
discovered using a drone carrying a
LiDAR sensor, another Peking University statement explained.
LiDAR is similar to sonar and echolocation, using
laser light instead of sound to map out surroundings.
Using the data gathered by the LiDAR, researchers from Peking University, the
Xizijiang Conservation Center and the
Shan Shui Conservation Center created a
3D model of the huge tree, which was confirmed as being
the largest tree in Asia after a field survey.
- The oldest confirmed tree is the bodhi ("enlightenment") tree or sacred fig (Ficus religiosa) the Buddha sat under, not the actual one, which was destroyed by marauding Muslims in Bihar, India, who could not stand to see a tree honored, but rather a cutting from that tree, now grown massive on the island of predominantly Buddhist Sri Lanka.
Other tall trees discovered
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| Grove of enormous cypress trees growing in the Himalayas (Peking University) |
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| We have to save old growth forests |
This tree has broken previous records set by the same team for the tallest tree in China:
In April 2022, they discovered a 252-foot tree in Medog County, while only a month later, they found a 272-foot-tall fir tree in southwest China.
There are also a huge number of massive trees in this area, with 25 over 295 feet having been discovered near the record-breaking tree.
Himalayan and Tibetan cypresses are rare in the wild, with only a few living in the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon National Nature Reserve. They are a first-class protected plant species in China.
The cypresses are in Tibet (southwest China's
Xizang Autonomous Region).
Then this 335-foot cypress was discovered, making it the tallest tree in Asia, and second-tallest tree in the world.
The world's tallest tree (California redwood)
 |
| Horseback riders enter redwood forest |
The tallest tree in the world can be found in
Redwood National Park in California, measuring a staggering
381 feet.
With this newly discovered tree filling the second-tallest spot,
- the third-tallest tree is a 330-foot mountain ash in Australia,
- the fourth is a 327-foot Coast Douglas fir in Oregon, and
- the fifth is Menara, a 323.3-foot yellow meranti found in Malaysia. More