Raven’s Tower – tallest Sitka spruce

The tallest known Sitka spruce in the world is Raven Spruce which is 96.7 m (96.68 m) tall.

Exact location of this enormous tree is not disclosed but it is known that the tree is located in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. This park was established in the 1920s in order to protect redwood forest with extremely tall and large trees whose growth has been facilitated by the very frequent fogs.

Raven’s Tower was discovered and measured by Ron Hildebrandt and Michael Taylor in 2001, measured also by Steve Sillett in 2007.

Tree has a lively top, seems to be growing and by now might be taller.

Bark of Sitka spruce is friendly to epiphytes and in the moist, foggy climate the trees get covered with diverse moss, lichens, and ferns. Branches of trees get thick cover and even soil developing on them – and as a result high above the ground, at the height of 50 m spruce develops a new network of roots on its own branches! This should be of great assistance to achieve a greater height of the tree because exactly the extreme lift of nutrients from the roots is limiting the height of the trees.

Raven’s Tower is included in the following list:

References

1. Landmarktrees, Tallest Sitka Spruce, accessed on December 24, 2010. Now website is not online anymore
2. Humboldt State University, Institute for Redwood Ecology, Photo Tour: Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis, accessed on December 24, 2010. Images!
3. M. W.Taylor, New 370′ class redwood to report, CA eNTS: The Magazine of the Native Tree Society – Volume 1, Number 7, July 2011, page 87. Accessed on 26 December 2016.

Raven’s Tower on the map

Location, GPS coordinates:	41.3805 N 124.0140 W (possible mistake by 3 km)
Categories:	Trees
Values:	Biology
Rating:	(2 / 5)
Where is located?	North America, United States, California, Tulare County, Redwood Mountain Grove. Exact location not given.
Species:	Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) J.Buchh.
Height:	94.9 m
Diameter:	4.87 m

Landmarks of California

Although California is one of states in the United States of America, Americans often compare it to a separate country, e.g. “if California would be a country, it would have the eighth largest economy in the world”. We can go on with this comparison – California has more landmarks and attractions than many large countries of the world.

Trees

Category includes some of the most impressive and interesting separate trees of the the world. Total number of tree species in the world still is a wild guess – may be 10,000 and may be 100,000 but most likely somewhere in between. Every month there are reported new tree species from the whole world, including the Western Europe.

Recommended books

Shades of Green: An Environmental and Cultural History of Sitka Spruce

This book takes a fresh look at the most disliked tree in Britain and Ireland, explaining the reasons it was introduced and why it became ubiquitous in the archipelagos of northwest Europe.

Experience the California Coast

The shoreline between California’s Golden Gate and the Oregon border offers an endless variety of coastal attractions: soft white sand and coarse pebble beaches, forest of Sitka spruce and fields of California poppies, redwood glades and crashing surf, lighthouses and whales.