Editing Eucalyptus regnans (section)

==Ecology==
[[File:Leadbeater's Possum called George - taxidermied 02.JPG|thumb|A taxidermied male Leadbeater's possum]]
[[File:Eucalyptus regnans foliage.jpg|thumb|Foliage]]
[[File:Eucalyptus regnans fruit.jpg|thumb|Fruit]]
=== Tree growth and stand development ===
''Eucalyptus regnans'' is a very fast growing tree, with mean height growth rates in young (&lt; 22 years old) stands ranging from {{convert|1|m||abbr=}} to {{convert|2|m||abbr=}} per year.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=von Takach Dukai|first1=Brenton|last2=Lindenmayer|first2=David B.|last3=Banks|first3=Sam C.|date=2018-03-01|title=Environmental influences on growth and reproductive maturation of a keystone forest tree: Implications for obligate seeder susceptibility to frequent fire|journal=Forest Ecology and Management|volume=411|pages=108–119|doi=10.1016/j.foreco.2018.01.014|issn=0378-1127}}</ref> In fact, some individuals grow at more than {{convert|2|m||abbr=}} per year for the first 20 years of their lives. However, growth rates slow with age, and eventually turn negative as old trees senesce and the tops of the canopy are damaged in high winds, lightning strikes or during fires. Mean tree height after 8 years is about 15 m, and after 22 years is about 33 m.<ref name=":2" /> After 50 years, trees are typically about {{convert|65|m|ft}} tall. In young stands (&lt; 22 years old), mean stem diameter growth is approximately 0.8 to 2&nbsp;cm per year, with half of the total stem diameter growth occurring in the first 90 years of life.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Wood|first1=S.W.|last2=Hua|first2=Q.|last3=Allen|first3=K.J.|last4=Bowman|first4=D.M.J.S.|date=2010|title=Age and growth of a fire prone Tasmanian temperate old-growth forest stand dominated by Eucalyptus regnans, the world's tallest angiosperm|journal=Forest Ecology and Management|volume=260|issue=4|pages=438–447|doi=10.1016/j.foreco.2010.04.037}}</ref>

A number of environmental factors influence the growth and maturation of ''E. regnans'', with research showing that the amount of incident solar radiation is positively associated with height and stem diameter growth, and that the amount of sunlight received is strongly negatively correlated with the level of precipitation (although all areas studied still received more than {{Convert|120|cm|in|abbr=}} of rainfall).<ref name=":2" />

In the absence of disturbance events such as high-intensity fire, individual trees can survive for hundreds of years, with the oldest known individuals identified as being 500 years old.<ref name=":3" /> Historically, low-frequency and high-intensity wildfires (ignited by lightning strikes) would prevent many stands from reaching this age, with fires killing mature overstorey trees and a new cohort developing from canopy-stored seedbanks. Despite this, natural variation in the spatial scale and frequency of wildfires meant that 30-60% of pre-European ''E. regnans'' forests would have been considered old growth (e.g. with living trees more than 120 years old).<ref>{{Cite book|title=Forest pattern and ecological process : a synthesis of 25 years of research|last=Lindenmayer, David.|date=2009|publisher=CSIRO Pub|isbn=9780643098305|oclc=519521166}}</ref> In addition, studies of older ''E. regnans'' forests have shown that low-intensity fires lead to the development of younger cohorts of trees without killing the parent trees, which leads to the presence of multiple age classes in [[old-growth forest]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lindenmayer|first1=D. B.|last2=Cunningham|first2=R. B.|last3=Donnelly|first3=C. F.|last4=Franklin|first4=J. F.|date=2000-09-01|title=Structural features of old-growth Australian montane ash forests|journal=Forest Ecology and Management|volume=134|issue=1|pages=189–204|doi=10.1016/S0378-1127(99)00257-1|issn=0378-1127}}</ref>

As ''E. regnans'' forests mature, they start to develop characteristics that are representative of old-growth stands, such as large hollows, long strips of decorticating bark, an abundance of tree ferns and rainforest trees, buttressing at the base of ''E. regnans'' trunks, large clumps of mistletoe in the canopy, large fallen logs, and thick mats of moisture-retaining mosses.

===Seed production, fire and regeneration===
''Eucalyptus regnans'' lacks a [[lignotuber]] and hence cannot recover by reshooting after intense fire. Instead, it can only regenerate by seed, and is thus termed an obligate seeder.<ref name="WatersBurrows2010">{{cite journal|last1=Waters|first1=D. A.|last2=Burrows|first2=G. E.|last3=Harper|first3=J. D. I.|year=2010|title=''Eucalyptus regnans'' (Myrtaceae): A fire-sensitive eucalypt with a resprouter epicormic structure|journal=American Journal of Botany|volume=97|issue=4|pages=545–56|doi=10.3732/ajb.0900158|issn=0002-9122|pmid=21622417|doi-access=free}}</ref> The seeds are held firmly in woody capsules (gumnuts) until the branchlets die and the capsules dry out. Seedlings require a high level of light, much more than reaches the forest floor when there is a well-developed understorey, and so seeds are not likely to germinate or develop into saplings unless the understorey is opened up to allow light to reach the ground. As high-intensity fires tend to kill all parent trees, after fire there is a massive release of seed from drying capsules, which take advantage of the available light and the nutrients in the ash bed. Seedling densities of up to {{convert|2500000|/ha}} have been recorded after a major fire. Through time there is a strong stand thinning effect and natural stem density reduction eventually leads to mature tree densities of about {{convert|30|to|40|/ha}}.

There is substantial variation in the age at which individual trees develop viable seeds, which is largely the result of growth rates, tree size, incident solar radiation, and topographic aspect.<ref name=":2" /> Trees as young as 7 years old may contain mature fruit capsules, although this is unusual and most trees probably start producing seeds after 11 years of age.<ref name=":2" /> Similarly, there is considerable variation in the rate at which stands of ''E. regnans'' develop seed crops.<ref name=":2" /> Tree growth rates, stand age, and topography influence the rate of development of seed crops in stands, leading to strong variation in the timing of seed crop viability, however, the mean age of reproductive viability appears to be about 21 years.<ref name=":2" />

As ''E. regnans'' seeds are not stored in soil seedbanks, the regeneration of the forest depends on the presence of canopy-stored seed crops. With two or more frequent fires occurring in less than the time to stand reproductive viability, ''E. regnans'' can become locally [[extinction|extinct]] due to poor regeneration. As ''E. regnans'' is often the sole or dominant overstorey tree in many locations, this can lead to the replacement of a tall wet open forest ecosystem with a dense low wattle shrubland, which obviously has large repercussions for community composition and function. Conversely, in the complete absence of fire (for hundreds of years), the cool temperate rainforest species that live in association with ''E. regnans'' may gradually replace it in gullies or other areas where the trees succumb to age rather than fire.<ref name="museumvictoria">{{cite web|url=https://museumsvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/resources/forest-secrets/|title=Mountain Ash - ''Eucalyptus regnans''|work=Forest Secrets|publisher=Museum Victoria|access-date=20 February 2015}}</ref> Thus it is clear that ''E. regnans'' forests rely on a particular frequency and intensity of fires for maintenance of the ecosystem attributes. As contemporary fire regimes have been highly modified since European occupation of Australia, there is a clear risk to ''E. regnans'' forests in many regions.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bowman|first1=David M. J. S.|last2=Murphy|first2=Brett P.|last3=Neyland|first3=Dominic L. J.|last4=Williamson|first4=Grant J.|last5=Prior|first5=Lynda D.|date=2014|title=Abrupt fire regime change may cause landscape-wide loss of mature obligate seeder forests|journal=Global Change Biology|volume=20|issue=3|pages=1008–1015|doi=10.1111/gcb.12433|pmid=24132866|bibcode=2014GCBio..20.1008B|s2cid=9157525 |issn=1365-2486}}</ref>

=== Ecological community ===
The majority of the endangered [[Leadbeater’s possum]] population lives in mountain ash forests (''Eucalyptus regnans'', ''E. delegatensis'' and ''E. nitens'') in the Central Highlands of Victoria. The possums use hollows in old trees for nesting and shelter and forage for arboreal [[arthropods]] under bark.<ref name="BATR1997"/> The vegetation structure of these forests enables the possums to travel through them.<ref name="BATR1997"/> Both Leadbeaters possums and [[yellow-bellied glider]]s feed on the sap from the trunks and branches.<ref name="GrovesRide1982">{{cite book|author1=Groves, R.H. |author2=Ride, W.D.L |title=Species at risk: research in Australia : proceedings of a Symposium on the Biology of Rare and Endangered Species in Australia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zz0QAQAAMAAJ|year=1982|publisher=Australian Academy of Science|isbn=978-0-85847-102-3}}</ref> [[Koala]]s feed on the foliage, though it is not one of their preferred forage species.<ref name="Griffiths2001">{{cite web|title=Victoria's koala management strategy|publisher=Biodiversity and Natural Resources Division, Department of Sustainability and Environment|date=September 2004|url=http://www.depi.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/220424/Koala.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216085914/http://www.depi.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/220424/Koala.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-02-16|access-date=16 February 2015}}</ref>

[[Yellow-tailed black-cockatoo]]s nest in the hollows of old trees,<ref name="NelsonMorris1994">{{cite journal|last1=Nelson|first1=J.L.|last2=Morris|first2=B.J.|title=Nesting Requirements of the Yellow-Tailed Black-Cockatoo, ''Calyptorhynchus funereus'', in ''Eucalyptus regnans'' Forest, and Implications for Forest Management.|journal=Wildlife Research|volume=21|issue=3|year=1994|page=267|issn=1035-3712|doi=10.1071/WR9940267}}</ref> in contrast to the Tasmanian [[wedge-tailed eagle]] (''Aquila audax fleayi'') that builds its nest of large sticks at the top of the trees.<ref name=SPRAT>{{cite web|title=''Aquila audax fleayi'' — Wedge-tailed Eagle (Tasmanian)|work=Species Profile and Threats Database|publisher=Department of the Environment|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=64435|access-date=16 February 2015}}</ref>

In a small area of rainforest in [[Yarra Ranges National Park]] in Victoria, nine [[epiphyte]] species were observed growing on ''Eucalyptus regnans'', the most prevalent of these being the [[liverwort]] ''[[Bazzania adnexa]]''.<ref name="Kellar2006">{{cite journal|last1=Kellar|first1=Claudette|last2=Short|first2=Megan|last3=Milne|first3=Josephine|author-link3=Josephine Milne|date=August 2006|title=Epiphytes on ''Nothofagus Cunninghamii'' and ''Eucalyptus Regnans'' in a Victorian Cool Temperate Rainforest|url=http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=666917975077649;res=IELHSS|journal=The Victorian Naturalist|volume=123|issue=4|pages=222–229|issn=0042-5184}}</ref>

The spur-legged phasmid (''[[Didymuria violescens]]'') is a leaf-eating insect that can defoliate trees during major infestations such as one experienced at [[Powelltown]] in the early 1960s.<ref name="Mifsud2002"/> Leaves and buds are eaten by the larvae and adults of the chrysomelid leaf beetle ''[[Chrysophtharta bimaculata]]''.<ref name="Forestry Tasmania 1999">{{cite web|title=Tasmanian eucalyptus leaf beetle|work=Identifying pests in Tasmania’s forests|publisher=Forestry Tasmania|date=March 1999|url=http://cdn.forestrytasmania.com.au/uploads/File/pdf/forest_health_leaflets/insect_pests/pestsinfosheet1leafbeetle1.pdf|access-date=9 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209041945/http://cdn.forestrytasmania.com.au/uploads/File/pdf/forest_health_leaflets/insect_pests/pestsinfosheet1leafbeetle1.pdf|archive-date=9 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Stressed trees can be damaged by the eucalyptus longhorned borer (''[[Phoracantha semipunctata]]''), which burrows into the trunk, which exudes a red stain. Eucalypt weevils of the genus ''[[Gonipterus]]'' commonly damage ''E. regnans'', while the tortoise beetle (''[[Paropsis atomaria]]'') is a common pest of plantations.<ref name="CABI"/>

===Carbon storage===
A study carried out by environmental scientist Professor Brendan Mackey of the [[Australian National University]] in 2009 identified that mountain ash forests in Victoria’s [[Central Highlands (Victoria)|Central Highlands]] are the best in the world at locking up carbon.<ref name="ABCScience2009">{{cite news|author=Salleh, Anna|title=Australian forests lock up most carbon|publisher=ABC Science|url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/06/16/2599532.htm|access-date=9 February 2015}}</ref> Mackey and colleagues found the highest amount of carbon was contained in a forest located in the [[O'Shannassy River]] catchment, which held {{convert|1867|t/ha|LT/acre ST/acre|2}} of carbon. This area was a stand of unlogged mountain ash over 100 years old, which had had minimal human disturbance. They further calculated that a ''E. regnans''-dominated forest with trees up to 250 years old and a well-established mid-storey and upper storey could store up to {{convert|2844|t/ha|LT/acre ST/acre|2}} of carbon.<ref name="Keith 2009">{{cite journal|last=Keith|first=Heather|author2=Mackey, Brendan |author3=Lindenmayer, David B. |date=2009|title=Re-evaluation of forest biomass carbon stocks and lessons from the world's most carbon-dense forests|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=106|issue=28|pages=11635–40|doi=10.1073/pnas.0901970106|pmid=19553199|pmc=2701447|bibcode=2009PNAS..10611635K|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Tallest specimens===
[[File:Tasmania logging 08 Mighty tree.jpg|thumb|[[El Grande (tree)|El Grande]] in Tasmania's [[Styx Valley]]]]
''Eucalyptus regnans'' is the [[largest organism|tallest]] of all [[flowering plant]]s, and possibly the tallest of all [[plant]]s, although no living specimens can make that claim. The tallest measured living specimen, named [[Centurion (tree)|Centurion]], stands {{convert|100.5|m|ft|abbr=off}}<ref name="facebook.com">{{cite web | url-access=limited  |archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/356736597852910/937968919729672 |archive-date = 2022-04-27| url = https://www.facebook.com/thetreeprojects/posts/937968919729672 |title = The Tree Projects on Facebook  |website=[[Facebook]]}}{{cbignore}}{{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> tall in [[Tasmania]].<ref name=register>{{cite web|author= McIntosh, Derek|title=Mountain Ash "Centurion" - tallest tree in Australia|work=National Register of Big Trees|url=http://www.nationalregisterofbigtrees.com.au/listing_view.php?listing_id=205|access-date=19 March 2017}}</ref><ref name= "ForestryTasmania2008">{{cite web|title=Welcome to the Centurian!|publisher=Forestry Tasmania|date=10 October 2008|url=http://www.forestrytas.com.au/news/2008/10/welcome-to-the-centurion|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222100741/http://www.forestrytas.com.au/news/2008/10/welcome-to-the-centurion|archive-date= 22 February 2014}}</ref> Before the discovery of Centurion, the tallest known specimen was Icarus Dream, which was rediscovered in [[Tasmania]] in January, 2005 and is {{convert|97|m|ft}} high. It was first measured by [[Surveyor (surveying)|surveyor]]s at {{convert|98.8|m|ft}} in 1962 but the documentation had been lost.<ref name=newtallesttree>
{{cite web|url=http://www.gianttrees.com.au/new_tallest_tree.html|title=New Tallest Tree for Tasmania|publisher=Tasmanian Giant Trees Consultative Committee|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125134325/http://www.gianttrees.com.au/new_tallest_tree.html|archive-date=2009-01-25}}</ref>
A total of 16 living trees in Tasmania have been reliably measured in excess of {{convert|90|m|ft}}.<ref name=GiantTreesRegister>{{cite web|url=http://gianttrees.com.au/pdf/register.pdf|title=Giant Trees Register|publisher=Forestry Tasmania|access-date=2009-12-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913024439/http://gianttrees.com.au/pdf/register.pdf|archive-date=2009-09-13}}</ref> The Cumberland Scenic Reserve near [[Cambarville]], became the site of Victoria's tallest trees, in 1939, including one measured at {{convert|92|m|ft}} high, following the extensive [[Black Friday (1939)|Black Friday bushfires]]. A severe storm in 1959 blew down 13 of the trees and the tallest tree was reduced to a height of {{convert|84|m|ft}} after it lost part of its crown. The height of this tree was cited as {{convert|81.5|m|ft}} in 2002 following further storm damage in 1973.<ref name="Mifsud2002"/> In 2000, a tree at Wallaby Catchment in [[Kinglake National Park]] was discovered to be {{convert|91.6|m|ft}} tall in 2000,<ref name="Mifsud2002">{{cite journal|last=Mifsud|first=Brett M.|s2cid=13696734|date=2002|title=Victoria's tallest trees|journal=Australian Forestry|volume=66|issue=3|pages=197–205|url=http://svc043.wic023v.server-web.com/pdf/pdf-members/afj/AFJ%202003%20v66/AFJ%20Sept%202003%2066-3/Mifsud%20final.pdf|doi=10.1080/00049158.2003.10674912}}</ref> however it perished in the [[Black Saturday bushfires]] of 2009.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=The Forester|title=The Effect of the Black Saturday Bushfires|url=http://www.forestry.org.au/kcfinder/upload/files/The%20Forester%20March%202012.pdf|type=PDF|author=Mifsud, Brett|date=March 2012|volume=55|number=1|pages=8–11|issn=1444-8920|access-date=18 February 2015|archive-date=1 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301102803/http://forestry.org.au/kcfinder/upload/files/The%20Forester%20March%202012.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Historically, the tallest individual is claimed to be the Ferguson Tree, at {{convert|132.6|m|ft}}, found in the [[Watts River]] region of Victoria in 1871 or 1872. This record is often disputed as unreliable, despite first-hand documentary evidence of it being measured on the ground with surveyor's tape by a senior forestry official (see below). Widespread agreement exists, however, that an exceptionally tall individual was reliably measured at {{convert|112.8|m|ft}} by [[theodolite]] in 1880 by a surveyor, George Cornthwaite, at [[Thorpdale]], Victoria (the tree is known both as the Cornthwaite or Thorpdale Tree). When it was felled in 1881, Cornthwaite remeasured it on the ground by chain at {{convert|114.3|m|ft}}.<ref name = Carder>{{cite book|last=Carder|first=A.|title=''Forest giants of the world: past and present''.|publisher=Fitzhenry and Whiteside|location=Ontario|year=1995|isbn=978-1-55041-090-7}}</ref> The stump is commemorated with a plaque. That tree was about {{convert|1|m|ft}} shorter than ''[[Hyperion (tree)|Hyperion]]'', the world's current tallest living tree, a [[Sequoia sempervirens|coast redwood]] measuring {{convert|379.1|ft|m|order=flip}}.<ref name="Martin2006">{{cite news|last=Martin|first=G|title=World's tallest tree, a redwood, confirmed|work=SFGate|date=29 September 2006|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/29/BAGBULF6NG1.DTL&hw=hyperion&sn=004&sc=799|access-date=15 February 2016}}</ref>

Some individuals attain much greater diameter; the largest known being "The Bulga Stump", a charred remnant near Tarra Bulga, South [[Gippsland]] district, [[Victoria, Australia]] which as a living tree had a DBH of {{convert|35|ft|4|in|m|order=flip}},<ref>Dr. Al C. Carder, FOREST GIANTS OF THE WORLD (Markham, Ontario: FitzHenry and Whiteside, 1995) pp. 76-77</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sres.anu.edu.au/associated/mensuration/BrackandWood1998/METRIC.HTM |title=Standards in mensuration |access-date=7 February 2017 |archive-date=23 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823064741/http://sres.anu.edu.au/associated/mensuration/BrackandWood1998/METRIC.HTM |url-status=dead }}</ref> making ''E. regnans'' the third thickest species of tree after the Baobab (''[[Adansonia digitata]]'') and the Montezuma Cypress (''[[Taxodium mucronatum]]''). As a consequence of being both the tallest and thickest Australian trees, ''E. regnans'' is also the most massive; that title being currently held by an individual called the "Kermandie Queen" discovered {{convert|2.4|mi|km|order=flip}} west of [[Geeveston]], [[Tasmania]] which measures {{convert|252|ft|7|in|order=flip}} in height and has a diameter at breast height (DBH) of {{convert|22|ft|7|in|order=flip|abbr=}}.<ref>http://www.smh.com.au/travel/blogs/yowie-man/timeless-trees-20130517-2jrd8.html{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Al Carder notes that in 1888 a cash reward of 100 pounds was offered there for the discovery of any tree measuring more than {{convert|400|ft|m}}.<ref name = Carder/> The fact that such a considerable reward was never claimed is taken as evidence that such large trees did not exist. Carder's historical research, however, revealed that the reward was offered under conditions that made it highly unlikely to be collected. First, it was made in the depths of winter and applied only for a very short time. Next, the tree had to be measured by an accredited surveyor. Since loggers had already taken the largest trees from the most accessible Victorian forests, finding very tall trees then would have demanded an arduous trek into remote wilderness and at considerable altitude. In turn, that meant that searchers also needed the services of experienced bushmen to be able to guide them and conduct an effective search. Only one expedition actually penetrated one of the strongholds of ''E. regnans'' at [[Mount Baw Baw]] but its search was rendered ineffectual by cold and snow and managed to measure only a single living tree{{Snd}}the New Turkey Tree: {{convert|99.4|m|ft}}{{Snd}}before appalling conditions forced a retreat, Carder notes.

Ferdinand von Mueller claimed to have personally measured one tree near the headwaters of the Yarra River at {{convert|122|m|ft}}. Nurseryman David Boyle, claimed in 1862 to have measured a fallen tree in a deep gully in the Dandenongs at {{convert|119.5|m|ft}}, and with a diameter at its broken tip that indicated it might have lost another {{convert|8|m|ft|spell=in}} of trunk when it broke, for {{convert|128|m|ft}}.<ref name = Carder/><ref name=ANH>{{cite web|title=Boyle, David (1821 - 1900)|work=Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators 1780s-1980s|publisher = Australian National Herbarium|url=http://www.anbg.gov.au/bot-biog/index.html|access-date=17 February 2015}}</ref>

Von Mueller's early records also mention two trees on the nearby [[Black Spur]] Range, one alive and measuring {{convert|128|m|ft}} and another fallen tree said to measure {{convert|146|m|ft}}, but these were either based on hearsay or uncertain reliability. David Boyle also reported that a tree at Cape Otway measured {{convert|158|m|ft}}, but this too was based on hearsay.

None, however, had been verified by direct documentation until 1982 when Ken Simpendorfer, a Special Projects Officer for the [[Forests Commission Victoria]], directed a search of official Victorian archives. It unearthed a forgotten report from more than a century earlier, one that had not been referred to in other accounts of the species up to that time. It was written on 21 February 1872, by the Inspector of State Forests, William Ferguson, and was addressed to the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Surveys, [[Clement Hodgkinson]]. Ferguson had been instructed to explore and inspect the watershed of the Watts River and reported trees in great number and exceptional size in areas where loggers had not yet reached. Ferguson wrote a letter to the editor in the Melbourne Age newspaper.<ref name=":31" /><blockquote>''"Some places, where the trees are fewer and at a lower altitude, the timber is much larger in diameter, averaging from 6 to 10 feet and frequently trees to 15 feet in diameter are met with on alluvial flats near the river. These trees average about ten per acre: their size, sometimes, is enormous. Many of the trees that have fallen by decay and by bush fires measure 350 feet in length, with girth in proportion. In one instance I measured with the tape line one huge specimen that lay prostrate across a tributary of the Watts and found it to be 435 feet from the roots to the top of its trunk. At 5 feet from the ground it measures 18 feet in diameter. At the extreme end where it has broken in its fall, it (the trunk) is 3 feet in diameter. This tree has been much burnt by fire, and I fully believe that before it fell it must have been more than 500 feet high. As it now lies it forms a complete bridge across a narrow ravine" .... William Ferguson, The Melbourne Age, 22 February 1872.''<ref name=":31">{{Cite news|last=Ferguson|first=William|date=22 February 1872|title=State Forests of the Watts River|work=The Melbourne Age|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/197448140}}</ref></blockquote>It is also possible that individual trees will again attain such heights. Author Bob Beale has recorded that the tallest trees in the Black Spur Range now measure about {{convert|85|m|ft}} but{{snd}}due to major bushfires in the 1920s and 30s{{snd}}are less than 80 years old and have been growing consistently at the rate of about {{convert|1|m|ft}} a year.<ref name="Beale">{{cite book|last=Beale|first=B.|title=If Trees Could Speak. Stories of Australia's Greatest Trees|publisher=Allen & Unwin|location=Sydney|year= 2007|isbn=978-1-74114-276-1}}</ref>

===In New Zealand===
A ''Eucalyptus regnans'' stand in the [[Orokonui Ecosanctuary]] near [[Dunedin]], [[New Zealand]], where ''E. regnans'' is an [[introduced species]], contains that country's tallest measured tree, standing {{convert|80.5|m|ft}} high in 2012.<ref name="odt">{{cite web|url=http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/199705/new-tallest-tree-titleholder|author=Baillie, Chris |title=New tallest tree titleholder |date=2 March 2012 |newspaper=[[Otago Daily Times]] |access-date=9 February 2014}}</ref>
A ''Eucalyptus regnans'' in the urban area of [[Greytown, New Zealand|Greytown]] was measured at {{convert|32.8|m}} in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tree Information |url=https://register.notabletrees.org.nz/tree/view/823 |website=The New Zealand Tree Register |publisher=New Zealand Notable Trees Trust |access-date=2019-02-05}}</ref>