The tallest deciduous tree in Poland grows in the Gromnik Forestry Inspectorate in the Pleśna Forestry, near Tarnów. This common beech is almost 50m high and was recently discovered by ‘tree hunters, i.e. enthusiasts of looking for trees with record sizes or other interesting and unusual features.
The discovery of the tallest deciduous tree in Poland was officially confirmed by W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences. The tree was discovered by an employee of this Institute, Łukasz Wilk, together with his brother Przemysław, also a searcher of exceptional trees.
Łukasz Wilk told the Polish Press Agency that the observation of trees and the search for these special, specific and exceptional specimens have fascinated him since childhood. He shares his passion with his brother. They have been scouring different areas together for several years. Often they are guided only by intuition and look for giant trees in these and not other places. This was the case during the expedition to the Rożnów Foothills,. The record holder beech caught his attention from a distance. With delight in his voice, he said that “the view was impressive.”
It was in the vicinity of Dąbrówka Szczepanowska, on December 31, 2022, that the hunters saw this amazing, gigantic tree. The beech’s height is comparable to an 18-story building. It grows about 2 meters above the bottom of the ravine, on the steep northern slope. With dusk quickly falling and unfavorable weather conditions (intensifying wind), the discoverers made the first measurements and, according to conservative estimates, claimed that the beech is 48m long.
“Thus, the beech from Dąbrówka Szczepanowska turned out to be the tallest known deciduous tree in Poland, second only to three of the measured specimens in the world in terms of height!”,
says Grzegorz Wojtanowski, recalling the information provided by the botanists of the Polish Academy of Sciences
The height record in the category of the tallest coniferous tree in Poland belongs to ‘Helena’ – Douglas fir in the Bardo Forest District in Lower Silesia. It is 120 years old and measures 59.40m.
The tallest trees in the world
The tallest in the world – according to the Monumental Trees register – is an evergreen sequoia measuring 115.72m, which was called “Hyperion”. It was discovered in the United States in Redwood National Park (California).
It is followed by ‘Centurion’ eucalyptus from Australia (100.5 m), Sitka spruce from the same national park as sequoia (100.2m), Douglas Fir from Oregon (99.7m) and Yellow Meranti from Malaysia (97.58 m).