List of superlative trees

All three of the tallest tree species continue to be Coast redwoods, Douglas-fir and Giant mountain ash.

The girth of a tree is usually much easier to measure than the height, as it is a simple matter of stretching a tape round the trunk, and pulling it taut to find the circumference.

It has been found to have a girth that dilated and shrunk in the following way: 11.28 m (1834 Loudon), 9.3 m (1892 Lowe), 10.67 m (1903 Elwes and Henry), 9.0 m (1924 E. Swanton), 9.45 m (1959 Mitchell) ...

This is converted to and cited as dbh (diameter at breast height) in tree and forestry literature.

See also Tree girth measurement Baobabs (genus Adansonia) store large amounts of water in the very soft wood in their trunks.

Accurate determination is only possible for trees that produce growth rings, generally those in seasonal climates.

Trees in uniform non-seasonal tropical climates grow continuously and do not have distinct growth rings.

For some of these species, age estimates have been made on the basis of extrapolating current growth rates, but the results are usually largely speculation.

The verified oldest measured ages are: Other species suspected of reaching exceptional age include European Yew (Taxus baccata) (probably over 5,000 years[111][112]), Sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) (3,000 years or more[113]), and Western Redcedar (Thuja plicata).

Lagarostrobos franklinii, known as Huon pine, is native to the wet southwestern corner of Tasmania, Australia.

A stand of trees in excess of 10,500 years old was found in 1955 in western Tasmania on Mount Read.

Previously the oldest age verified by carbon dating was 900 years for a tree in the Gethsemane garden in Jerusalem.

[127] El Drago Milenario, a tree of species Dracaena draco on Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, is reported to have 200-meter-long (660 ft) superficial roots.